A dormant power plant near the site of the worst US nuclear disaster in history is being brought back online to meet the massive electricity needs of AI software.
A reactor in Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania – the site of a separate nuclear disaster – was shut down five years ago after it became uneconomic to run.
But under the deal announced on Friday, it will be switched back on and run at full capacity for at least 20 years.
Constellation Energy, a utility provider, said it aims to restart the reactor in 2028. Microsoft has agreed to consume all the power it generates. With about 837 megawatts (MW) of capacity, the site can generate enough electricity for 800,000 homes.
The reactor sits next to another that was taken out of service 45 years ago after malfunctioning and suffering a partial meltdown, in what is regarded as the worst nuclear accident in US history.
Three Mile Island suffered its infamous nuclear disaster in March 1979 when a combination of “equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and worker errors” led to the partial meltdown of the reactor known as Unit 2, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“This was the most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public,” the commission says on its website.
“Its aftermath brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations.”