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Unit
2 at Three Mile
Island operated
for just a few
months before the
accident, in March
1979. At the time,
Unit 1 was down
for refueling.
That reactor
started back up,
to some
controversy, in
the mid-1980s and
produced enough
electricity for
hundreds of
thousands of homes
in the area for
more than 30
years.
Eventually,
though, the plant
faced economic
struggles. Even
though it was
operating at?
relatively high
efficiency and
with low costs, it
was driven out of
business by record
low prices for
natural gas and
the introduction
of relatively
cheap, subsidized
renewable energy
to the grid, says
Patrick White,
research director
of the Nuclear
Innovation
Alliance, a
nonprofit think
tank.?
That
situation has
shifted in just
the past few
years, White says.
There¡¯s more money
available now for
nuclear, including
new
technology-agnostic
tax credits in the
Inflation
Reduction Act. And
there¡¯s also
rising concern
about the
increased energy
demand on the
power grid, in
part from tech
giants looking to
power data centers
like those needed
to run AI.
In
announcing its , Constellation Energy,
the owner of Three
Mile Island Unit
1, also shared
that the plant is
getting a
rebrand¡ªthe site
will be renamed
the Crane Clean
Energy Center.
(Not sure if that
one¡¯s going to
stick.)??
The
confluence of the
particular
location of this
reactor and the
fact that the
electricity will
go to power data
centers (and other
infrastructure)
makes this whole
announcement
instantly
attention-grabbing.
As put it, ¡°Microsoft AI Needs So
Much Power It's
Tapping Site of US
Nuclear Meltdown.¡±
For
some people in
climate circles,
this deal makes a
lot of sense.
Nuclear power
remains one of the
most expensive
forms of
electricity today.
But experts say it
could play a
crucial role on
the grid, since
the plants
typically put out
a consistent
amount of
electricity¡ªit¡¯s
often referred to
as ¡°firm power,¡±
in contrast with
renewables like
wind and solar
that are
intermittently
available.
Without
guaranteed money
there¡¯s a chance
this reactor
would simply
have been
decommissioned
as planned.
Reopening plants
that shuttered
recently could
provide an
opportunity to get
the benefits of
nuclear power
without having to
build an entirely
new project.?
In
March, the
Palisades Nuclear
Plant in Michigan
got a loan
guarantee from the
US Department of
Energy¡¯s Loan
Programs Office to
the tune of over
$1.5 billion to
help restart.
Palisades shut
down in 2022, and
the site¡¯s owner
says it hopes to
get it back online
by late 2025. It
will be the first
shuttered reactor
in the US to come
back online, if
everything goes as
planned. (For more
details, check out
my story from.)?
Three
Mile Island may
not be far
behind¡ªConstellation
says the reactor
could be running
again by 2028.
(Interestingly,
the facility will
need to separately
undergo a
relicensing
process in just a
few years, as it¡¯s
currently only
licensed to run
through 2034. A
standard 20-year
extension could
have it running
until 2054.)
If
Three Mile
Island comes
back online,
Microsoft will
be the one
benefiting, as
its long-term
power purchase
agreement would
secure it enough
energy to power
roughly 800,000
homes every
year.
Except in this
case, it¡¯ll be
used to help run
the company¡¯s
massive data
center
infrastructure in
the region.
This
isn¡¯t the first
recent sign Big
Tech is jumping in
on nuclear power:
Earlier this year,
Amazon right next to
the Susquehanna
nuclear power
plant, also in
Pennsylvania.
While
Amazon will use
only part of the
output of the
Susquehanna plant,
Microsoft will buy
all the power that
Three Mile Island
produces. That
raises the
question of who¡¯s
paying for what in
this whole
arrangement.
Ratepayers won¡¯t
be expected to
shoulder any of
the costs to
restart the
facility,
Constellation CEO
Joe Dominguez The
company also won¡¯t
seek any special
subsidies from the
state, he added.
However,
Dominguez also
told the Post
that federal money
is key in allowing
this project to go
forward.
Specifically,
there are
set aside for
existing nuclear
plants.?
The
company declined
to give the Post
a value for the
potential tax
credits and didn¡¯t
respond to my
request for
comment, but I
busted out a
calculator and did
my own math.
Assuming an
835-megawatt plant
running at 96.3%
capacity (the
figure
Constellation gave
for the plant¡¯s
final year of
operation) and a
$15-per-megawatt-hour
tax credit, that
could add up to
about $100 million
each year,
assuming
requirements for
wages and price
are met.
It¡¯ll
be interesting to
see how much
further this trend
of restarting
plants might go.
The Duane Arnold
nuclear plant in
Iowa is one
potential
candidate¡ªit
shuttered in 2020
after 45 years,
and the site¡¯s
owner has? about the potential of
reopening.?
Restarting
any or all of
these three
sites could be
the latest sign
of an
approaching
nuclear
resurgence.
Big tech companies
need lots of
energy, and
bringing old
nuclear plants
onto the grid¡ªor,
better yet,
keeping aging ones
open¡ªseems to me
like a great way
to meet demand.
But
given the relative
rarity of
opportunities to
snag power from
recently closed or
closing plants, I
think the biggest
question for the
industry is
whether this wave
of interest will
translate into
building new
reactors as
well.??
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