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Three Mile Island Reactor to Reopen as Crane Clean Energy Center

Microsoft And Constellation Energy Plan To Restart Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant

Photo: Getty Images

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is set to discuss the reopening of the Unit One Reactor at Three Mile Island in a public observation meeting this Friday. Constellation Energy, the company behind the plan, aims to transform the reactor into the Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC), which will power Microsoft's artificial intelligence program. The project, however, still requires federal approval.

The Unit One Reactor, located in Londonderry, Pennsylvania, was shut down five years ago due to economic reasons. Despite this, it had been operating at industry-leading levels of safety and reliability. Constellation Energy plans to make significant investments to restore the plant, including the turbine, generator, main power transformer, and cooling and control systems. The company expects the CCEC to be online by 2028, pending approval from the NRC and relevant state and local agencies.

The CCEC is part of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft. The tech giant will purchase energy from the renewed plant as part of its goal to match the power its data centers use with carbon-free energy. "Powering industries critical to our nation’s 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,” said Joe Dominguez, president and CEO, Constellation, in a press release.

The reopening of the reactor is expected to create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and add more than 800 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to the grid. It is also projected to add $16 billion to Pennsylvania’s GDP and generate more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes.


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