2024-09-22 09:39:00
Pure energy
AI hunger for electricity – Three Mile Island nuclear power plant has been reactivated
The Three Miles Island Power Station began operations in 1974
© Richard Hertzler/ / Image Alliance
The largest nuclear accident in the US occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant. Nuclear power is expected to be produced there again in 2028. There is only one customer: Microsoft.
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant became world famous when there was a disaster in the Unit II reactor in 1979. Unit II was destroyed, but Unit I operated until 2019. The power plant was then closed. Now it’s like Block I’m going to play it again. The operator Constellation has announced that it should go back online as early as 2028.
If approved by regulatory authorities, the power plant should operate until 2054. Microsoft, because the technology giant takes all the fire. Microsoft has signed a 20-year contract to cover the energy consumption of its data centers with carbon-free electricity. Constellation said it was the largest power purchase agreement the company had ever signed.
Unfall at Three Miles Island
“This decision is the strongest symbol of the rebirth of nuclear energy as a clean and reliable source of energy,” said Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation. Because the Three Mile Island name is ambiguous, the power plant will be renamed the Crane Clean Power Plant. Restarting the plant is expected to cost $1.6 billion.
The power plant is located on an island in the Susquehanna River opposite Harrisburg. In 1979, a partial meltdown occurred due to mechanical failure and human error. Although no one was killed, and only a small amount of what was produced was released, no new nuclear power plants were built in the United States after that.
The demand is increasing
Three Mile Island is not an isolated case. The predicted triumph of artificial intelligence will increase the energy demands of data centers worldwide. Goldman Sachs estimates that data centers will account for 8 percent of total US electricity demand by 2030, compared to 3 percent currently. Added to this is the increasing demand for electric vehicles. Big tech companies are relying on nuclear energy. Amazon Web Services sources electricity from the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania. Oracle recently announced that it designed a data center powered by three small nuclear reactors.
Nuclear power will support Microsoft’s plans to power the entire global network of data centers with clean energy by 2025, said Bobby Hollis, Microsoft’s vice president of energy. The output of wind and solar power can fluctuate, while a nuclear power plant is always on and needs a customer who can take all the power, Hollis said. Continuous energy consumption and production are a perfect match. “We work around the clock. They work around the clock.”
#Mile #Island #nuclear #power #plant #reactivated #Microsoft