{"id":344222,"date":"2024-09-22T09:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T07:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=344222"},"modified":"2024-09-22T09:13:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T07:13:02","slug":"tech-giant-secures-deal-to-bring-back-reactor-at-infamous-nuclear-power-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=344222","title":{"rendered":"Tech Giant Secures Deal To Bring Back Reactor At Infamous Nuclear Power Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Daily Caller<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Owen Klinsky<\/a>
<\/strong>Contributor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A shuttered nuclear power plant with a checkered past will partially be coming back online after Microsoft obtained a deal to purchase energy from one of the plant\u2019s reactors, according to a Friday press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 20-year power purchase agreement, which the tech giant secured with Constellation Energy, would bring back the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania \u2014 the site of a 1979 meltdown<\/a> that resulted in a large-scale evacuation of nearby pregnant women and school-age children. The project aims<\/a> to provide power for Microsoft data centers as tech companies push<\/a> to expand electricity production to support their artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud storage needs, the release says<\/a>. (RELATED: Biden-Harris Admin\u2019s Multi-Billion Dollar Electric School Bus Program Is A Huge Gift To China, House Report Finds)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPowering industries critical to our nation\u2019s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise,\u201d Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation, stated in the release alongside Microsoft. \u201cWe look forward to bringing [the Three Mile Island plant] back with a new name and a renewed mission to serve as an economic engine for Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The agreement would bring back Unit 1 at Three Mile Island, which was shuttered in 2019 for \u201ceconomic reasons,\u201d according to Constellation\u2019s statement. Unit 1 is adjacent to the Unit 2 reactor that caused the worst nuclear meltdown in U.S. history on March 28, 1979, which results in 40% of people evacuating<\/a> the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Three Mile Island power plant will have a capacity of 835 megawatts, enough to power<\/a> more than 700,000 homes. It is expected to create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs, according to the press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision to reopen the Three Mile Island reactor comes as tech companies are increasingly looking<\/a> to nuclear energy to power their AI and data center needs, with Amazon Web Services spending $650 million on a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania earlier this year. The trend could affect power grid reliability and affordability as it provides the businesses with \u201cfirst dibs\u201d on electricity, Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate<\/a> Patrick Cicero told<\/a> the WSJ in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear power has aroused<\/a> public suspicion, largely due to incidents like Three Mile Island, Fukushima and Chernobyl, in which reactor meltdowns caused radiation to flood areas surrounding nuclear power plants. However, it could be a viable pathway<\/a> to reducing emissions and accomplishing the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s goal of having the U.S. power sector reach net-zero emissions by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a valuable opportunity to invest in clean, carbon-free and affordable power \u2014 on the heels of the hottest year in Earth\u2019s history,\u201d Pennsylvania state Rep. Tom Mehaffie said in the Constellation press release. \u201cThis will transform the local economy and presents a rare opportunity to power our economy with reliable clean energy that we can count on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constellation and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A shuttered nuclear power plant with a checkered past will partially be coming back online after Microsoft obtained a deal to purchase energy from one of the plant\u2019s reactors, according to a Friday press release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":344226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691824094,691818206],"class_list":{"0":"post-344222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-microsoft","9":"tag-nuclear-power","11":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0-Nuclear-Power-Plant.jpeg?fit=1999%2C1138&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1rxY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":347680,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=347680","url_meta":{"origin":344222,"position":0},"title":"Google, Amazon, give up on national grid, ignore renewables, and buy their own nuclear plants","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Two weeks ago it was\u00a0Microsoft reviving Three Mile Island\u2019s nuclear plant. Now Google is buying seven small modular reactors, and Amazon is\u00a0 spending $500 million USD on part of a nuclear energy company.","rel":"","context":"In \"Amazon\"","block_context":{"text":"Amazon","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=amazon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0SMR-CM-RENDER-New-2020-1.webp?fit=1200%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0SMR-CM-RENDER-New-2020-1.webp?fit=1200%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0SMR-CM-RENDER-New-2020-1.webp?fit=1200%2C668&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0SMR-CM-RENDER-New-2020-1.webp?fit=1200%2C668&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0SMR-CM-RENDER-New-2020-1.webp?fit=1200%2C668&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":345325,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=345325","url_meta":{"origin":344222,"position":1},"title":"Microsoft \u2018Buys\u2019 Nuclear Power Plant to Run AI \u2013 and it\u2019s Showing Us the Future","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On September 20th there was an announcement by a little known energy company located in Baltimore Pennsylvania: Constellation announced today the signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that will pave the way for the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Centre (CCEC) and restart of Three Mile\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"AI (artificial intelligence)\"","block_context":{"text":"AI (artificial intelligence)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ai-artificial-intelligence-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-09-27-002953.jpeg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-09-27-002953.jpeg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-09-27-002953.jpeg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-09-27-002953.jpeg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-09-27-002953.jpeg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":345827,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=345827","url_meta":{"origin":344222,"position":2},"title":"The small modular reactor revolution is arriving soon","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been a big year for nuclear energy in the U.S. The Department of Energy has allocated a large amount of capital to nuclear energy research and has committed $900 million to advance Gen III+ (more on them below) small modular reactors (SMRs). 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