Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft

Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in US history, will reopen to sell the power to Microsoft exclusively.

The Pennsylvania power plant suffered a partial meltdown in 1979 and has not been operational. The owner, Constellation Energy, announced a 20-year deal with the tech giant yesterday to revive Unit 1 (the reactor that was not damaged during the meltdown).

The announcement comes as tech companies search for energy sources to fuel their needs. Cloud computing firms are looking into nuclear energy to run data centers that power their AI ambitions.

Constellation plans on spending $1.6 billion to make Unit 1 operational by 2028. It expects approval from federal nuclear regulators and the state by 2027.

Once operational, the Three Mile Island unit is expected to provide 835 megawatts of electricity—enough to power ~700,000 homes. The deal will supply Microsoft’s data centers with power for 20 years. It also helps the tech company reach its carbon-negative goals.

Data centers require reliable power sources. Nuclear energy, which is nearly carbon-free and highly dependable, has become an attractive option for meeting these needs.

Several tech leaders, including Bill Gates and ChatGPT parent OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have advocated for nuclear energy to meet data centers’ power demands. Altman backs nuclear startup Oklo, while Gates co-founded TerraPower, which recently began constructing a nuclear facility. Amazon recently bought a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania.

According to Energy Information Administration data, nuclear plants contributed 18.6% of total US electricity last year.