{"id":352402,"date":"2024-11-26T17:03:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T16:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=352402"},"modified":"2024-11-26T17:03:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T16:03:31","slug":"ai-energy-surge-microsoft-to-re-open-three-mile-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=352402","title":{"rendered":"AI Energy Surge \u2013 Microsoft to Re-Open Three Mile Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by\u00a0<\/strong>Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire output of the re-opened Three Mile Island nuclear plant will be used to drive artificial intelligence computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

A once-shuttered nuclear plant could soon return to the grid. 
<\/strong>
The planned reopening of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant is praised as a boon for Pennsylvania and a boost for AI, but it is loathed by residents still haunted by a near-catastrophic meltdown there in 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resurrection of Three Mile Island (TMI) \u2014 half of which remained operating after the 1979 meltdown, only closing down due to economic reasons in 2019 \u2014 was prompted by Microsoft\u2019s need to fuel its power-hungry data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A revolution in generative artificial intelligence has triggered a surge in energy needs for those data centers, pushing cloud computing giants to look for additional low carbon energy sources. 

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For others, the fear and anxiety of 1979 is still strong.

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A series of equipment malfunctions and human errors saw the plant\u2019s Unit 2 melt down in 1979, releasing radioactive materials into the atmosphere and launching mass evacuations.

\u2026Read more:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/world\/cheers-angst-as-us-nuclear-plant-three-mile-island-to-reopen\/ar-AA1uDRIg<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is hard to get your mind around \u2013 the entire output of the re-opened Three Mile Island nuclear plant will be used by Microsoft\u2019s artificial intelligence data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does AI need so much power?<\/strong> The reason is big AI systems need to sift through trillions, sometimes quintillions of failed attempts to find the solution they are looking for. Even at billions of potential solution evaluations per second it can take days, months or even years to achieve a result. But this process of digitally mining neural networks to find the nuggets of rightness can be accelerated by adding more computer hardware \u2013 an AI hardware arms race which has led to the current situation, in which big tech companies have started rehabilitating nuclear reactors, for the sole purpose of powering their next generation data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone wanting to delve deeper into why AI needs so much power can read an explanation in my recent article about AI and see a real AI in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Artificial Intelligence: A Working Demonstration, and Why Big Tech Ditched Big Green<\/a><\/blockquote>