Groundbreaking Revival: Constellation Energy Breathes New Life into Three Mile Island to Power Microsoft’s Future
Norma Field walks beneath power lines extending from the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island (TMI), operated by Exelon Generation in Middletown, Pennsylvania. In a significant move highlighting the tech sector’s vast energy requirements for AI-related data centers, Constellation Energy plans to restart Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 reactor in 2028, pending Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. They also aim to extend the plant’s operations through at least 2054. This announcement boosted Constellation stock by over 9%.
Microsoft will purchase the nuclear-generated electricity to power its data centers with carbon-free energy. Constellation’s CEO, Joe Dominguez, labeled this agreement as their largest power purchase deal and a potent symbol of nuclear power’s resurgence as a clean, reliable energy source. Unit 1, which shut down in 2019 due to economic challenges against cheap natural gas and renewables, is distinct from the reactor that partially melted down in 1979, the most severe nuclear incident in U.S. history.
As the tech industry anticipates surging electricity demands for AI, data centers are forecasted to consume 8% of total U.S. electricity by 2030, up from 3% today. This demand is compounded by increased manufacturing and electric vehicle adoption, with data centers and EVs potentially adding 290 terawatt hours of electricity by decade’s end, akin to Turkey’s entire consumption.
Tech giants are increasingly turning to nuclear power to meet their growing electricity needs while maintaining climate goals. Amazon Web Services recently acquired a data center campus in Pennsylvania to be powered by the Susquehanna nuclear plant. Oracle is also planning a data center powered by three small nuclear reactors.
Reviving the nuclear industry has garnered bipartisan support at both federal and state levels after years of reactor shutdowns. Three Mile Island is set to become the second nuclear plant in U.S. history to resume operations, following the Palisades plant in Michigan, which is expected to restart in late 2025.
Original Story https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/20/constellation-energy-to-restart-three-mile-island-and-sell-the-power-to-microsoft.html
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