From the Daily Caller
Irving Klinsky
Contributor
The shuttered nuclear power plant with a checkered history will partially resume operations after Microsoft secured a deal to buy energy from one of the plant's reactors, according to a news release Friday.
The tech giant's 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy will restore Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear power plant – where a nuclear meltdown in 1979 led to a mass evacuation of nearby pregnant women and school children. The project is designed to power Microsoft data centers as the technology company works to expand power production to support its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud storage needs, according to a press release. (Related: Biden-Harris administration’s multibillion-dollar electric school bus program is a huge gift to China, House report finds)
“Powering industries critical to our nation's global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, requires abundant, carbon-free and reliable energy every hour of every day, and nuclear power plants are the only ones that can consistently deliver on this. The promise of energy,” Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez said in a press release with Microsoft. “We look forward to bringing [the Three Mile Island plant] Returning with a new name and a new mission to be Pennsylvania’s economic engine.
The agreement will restore operations to Three Mile Island Unit 1, which was shut down in 2019 for “economic reasons,” according to a statement from Constellation. Unit 1 is adjacent to the Unit 2 reactor, which triggered the worst nuclear meltdown in U.S. history on March 28, 1979, resulting in the evacuation of 40% of the area's personnel.
The Three Mile Island plant will generate 835 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 700,000 homes. According to the release, 3,400 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created.
The decision to reopen the Three Mile Island reactor comes as technology companies increasingly look to nuclear power for their artificial intelligence and data center needs, with Amazon Web Services spending $650 million to build one in Pennsylvania earlier this year Nuclear powered data center. Pennsylvania consumer advocate Patrick Cicero told the Wall Street Journal in July that the trend could affect the reliability and affordability of the grid because it provides businesses with “more flexibility to use electricity.” priority”.
Nuclear power has aroused public skepticism, in large part due to events such as Three Mile Island, Fukushima and Chernobyl, where reactor meltdowns resulted in flooding of areas around nuclear power plants. However, it could be a viable way to reduce emissions and meet the Biden-Harris administration's goal of having the U.S. power industry reach net-zero emissions by 2035.
“After one of the hottest years in Earth's history, this is a valuable opportunity to invest in clean, carbon-free and affordable electricity,” Rep. Tom Mehaffie, R-Pa., said in a Constellation news release . “This will transform the local economy and provide a unique opportunity to power our economy with reliable, clean energy we can trust.”
Constellation and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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