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Big Data-Electric Vehicles, etc., Surge in Electricity Demand… MS Signs 20-Year Contract with Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant
‘Mini Nuclear Power Plant’ SMR Supply Source Also Secured… OpenAI Invests in Ultra-Small Nuclear Power Plant Development Company
Europe withdraws nuclear phase-out, expands to China and India
《AI-electric car revives nuclear power plant… US ‘Three Mile’ restarts, supplies power to MS
The United States has decided to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant Unit 1, where a nuclear accident occurred in 1979, in 2028 to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for electricity due to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom and the transition to electric vehicles. Three Mile Island Unit 1 continued to operate without any damage from the accident, but was shut down in 2019 due to poor economic feasibility. It has decided to restart it after 9 years. Not only the United States, but also Europe, China, and India have decided to expand nuclear power plants to secure stable electricity. The nuclear power boom is happening worldwide.
As demand for electricity skyrockets due to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, rapid growth of data centers, and the transition to electric vehicles, the U.S. has decided to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, where the worst nuclear accident occurred. Big tech companies in the U.S. are also increasing their investment in nuclear power plants to secure the massive power needed for AI development. Not only Europe, which has been interested in renewable energy, but also China and India are expanding nuclear power plants, and the global nuclear power market is experiencing ‘spring’ again.
● US to restart nuclear power plants that had been shut down for 9 years
On the 20th (local time), Constellation Energy, which owns the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, announced that it would “sign a 20-year power sales contract with Microsoft (MS) to lay the foundation for restarting Unit 1 of the nuclear power plant.” The restart date is 2028, nine years after Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was shut down in 2019 due to poor economic feasibility.
Three Mile Island, which began operation in 1974, was the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history in March 1979. Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation Energy, said, “Nuclear is the only energy source to power industries that are critical to the U.S. global economy and technological competitiveness, including data centers.” The restart of Unit 1 is expected to produce 835 MW, enough to power at least 700,000 homes, and is expected to create 3,400 jobs.
In addition to the large-scale Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, MS has also secured a source for small modular reactors (SMRs), which are “mini nuclear power plants.” Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, founded TerraPower, an SMR development company, in 2006. TerraPower’s reactor, in which SK has also invested, is 345MW and can produce up to 500MW of electricity.
The reason Microsoft is paying attention to nuclear power plants is because AI development consumes more electricity than a city. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2027, the electricity required for AI learning and services will be equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of countries like Sweden and the Netherlands. Since AI is a ‘power-hungry hippopotamus,’ other big tech companies in the US are also jumping into investing in nuclear power plants.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, also invested in SMR startup Oklo. Oklo is currently building an SMR at the Idaho National Laboratory, aiming for operation in 2027. Among the SMRs, Oklo is developing a micro-SMR with a capacity of 15 to 50 MW. In an interview with CNBC, CEO Altman emphasized, “In order to meet energy demand while moving away from fossil fuels, we need nuclear power.”
Amazon Web Services (AWS) invested $650 million (about 870 billion won) in March of this year to supply nuclear power to its data center in Pennsylvania. The data center receives energy directly from the nearby Susquehanna Steam Electric Station nuclear power plant.
● Europe, China, India, etc. also expanding nuclear power plants
The global nuclear power market had been depressed for a while due to the U.S. shale gas boom and Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, but the mood has now turned around. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said, “For years, nuclear power struggled to compete with other energy sources, but now the situation has turned around.”
European countries such as France, Switzerland, and Italy, which declared a “nuclear phase-out” after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, are once again pushing for the introduction of nuclear power. France announced immediately after the Fukushima nuclear accident that it would “reduce the nuclear power ratio from 75% to 50% by 2035,” but effectively abandoned the nuclear phase-out by announcing an energy policy direction that included a plan to develop new nuclear power plants in 2022. Japan, too, is gradually increasing the operation of nuclear power plants starting this year as power shortages worsen and public opinion favoring nuclear power plants is forming.
China and India, which are classified as emerging countries in science and technology, are also rapidly expanding nuclear power plant construction. China started construction of five large-scale nuclear power plants last year alone. The Indian government also announced that it will triple its nuclear power plant capacity over the next 10 years until 2022.
The Korean government also announced on the 12th that it would abandon its nuclear phase-out policy by approving the construction of Shin Hanul Units 3 and 4 in Uljin, Gyeongbuk after eight years. At the same time, it is also promoting the development of ‘innovative SMR (i-SMR)’ which has high demand from companies and exports. Kyunghee University nuclear engineering professor Heo Gyun-young said, “The nuclear power market has bloomed again as the decarbonization trend and big tech’s demand for nuclear power meet,” and “Our country also needs to make preemptive preparations so as not to fall behind.”
2024-09-22 22:25:29