Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Marc Levy at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.
The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a $1 billion loan to help Constellation Energy restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania, which will supply power to Microsoft’s data centers under a 20-year agreement.
Some key facts:
• Constellation Energy will use the funds to restart the mothballed 835-megawatt reactor, which can power approximately 800,000 homes.
• Microsoft has signed a 20-year agreement to purchase power from the reactor for its data centers.
• The total cost to restart the reactor is $1.6 billion, with operations expected to resume in 2027.
• The reactor was shut down in 2019 by Constellation Energy’s then-parent company, Exelon, due to financial losses.
• Three Mile Island was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979, which destroyed one of its two reactors.
• Constellation Energy has renamed the functioning unit the Crane Clean Energy Center and is working to restore equipment, including the turbine, generator and cooling systems.
• The loan is part of a $250 billion energy infrastructure program authorized by Congress in 2022, reflecting growing support for nuclear power to meet rising energy demands from data centers and address climate change.
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