US Government Grants Billion-Dollar Loan for Three Mile Island Reactivation

Microsoft will receive nuclear power, with state financial aid: US energy provider Constellation Energy Generation is receiving money from the US Department of Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, which is intended to supply Microsoft with electricity in the future.

Constellation Energy Generation will receive a loan of one billion US dollars, the US Department of Energy announced. The total cost for the reactivation of the 835-megawatt facility is estimated at 1.6 billion US dollars.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was shut down in 2019 for economic reasons. Last year, Constellation Energy Generation announced its intention to restart the plant after the energy provider concluded a long-term agreement with Microsoft for the purchase of electricity. According to this, the software group intends to purchase the entire electricity output of the plant for at least two decades.

Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta Rely on Nuclear Power

It is likely not to be the only nuclear power plant to come online in the US: In addition to Microsoft, Google's parent company Alphabet and the Facebook group Meta have also announced their intention to cover the increased electricity consumption from artificial intelligence with climate-neutral nuclear power. The current US administration under Donald Trump also relies on this form of energy. The Department of Energy states its intention to accelerate and maximize the expansion of nuclear capacities in the United States.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Harrisburg in the US state of Pennsylvania originally had two units. In one of them, a partial meltdown occurred in 1979. It was the worst nuclear accident in the US to date. The other unit remained in operation until its shutdown in 2019. According to Constellation Energy Generation, it is scheduled to go back online in 2027 or 2028, then under the name Crane Clean Energy Center.

(wpl)