In 1979, two reactors at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown. It was the worst nuclear accident of its kind in the United States.
For years, the plant continued to operate with only one reactor, which was eventually shut down five years ago for economic reasons.
Now, however, the plant is set to be revived – thanks to artificial intelligence.
In a partnership with Microsoft, Constellation Energy, the largest operator of nuclear power plants in America, will invest $1.6 billion to renovate the recently closed reactor. If approved by regulatory authorities, the plant is expected to be restarted in 2028.
Microsoft has committed to absorbing all the energy produced over the next 20 years. The destination: its AI data centers.
“It’s very symbolic,” Costellation CEO Joseph Dominguez told the New York Times. “It’s where the nuclear industry’s biggest failure occurred, and now it could be the site of its rebirth.”
The reactor will have a capacity of 835 megawatts, enough to power 700,000 homes.
Nuclear plants have the additional advantage of operating continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Nuclear plants, which had previously been ‘condemned’ by environmentalists, are now attracting renewed interest due to the high demand from AI data center clusters.
Without atomic energy, major technology companies will struggle to achieve their zero-carbon goals.
In another sign of the high demand for nuclear energy, a group of some of the world’s largest banks announced today their decision to increase financing and contribute to the goal of tripling the use of atomic energy by 2050, as defined at COP 28 in Dubai.
The initiative – announced during New York Climate Week – was supported by the following banks: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ares Management, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Brookfield, Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild & Co, Segra Capital Management, and Société Générale.
At the event, John Podesta, the White House negotiator on climate issues, said that “nuclear energy is clean energy – and if we want to have a habitable planet with sustainable supply chains, we will need nuclear energy.”
According to the Financial Times, some financial institutions preferred to stay out of these projects due to risks and complexities.
But the aversion is no longer as strong as in the past – mainly because accidents are relatively rare.
The worst nuclear tragedy in history was the Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine under the Soviet regime in 1986. Over 30 people died in the initial hours and thousands in the following years due to contamination.
The other major disaster was Fukushima in 2011, caused by an earthquake. There were around 20 people injured and some suspected cases of cancer caused by radiation.
In the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979, failures in the safety system halted a water pump. There was a release of highly radioactive gases.
However, the local population was minimally affected. Studies on a potential significant increase in cancer cases did not reach a consensus.
Source
Arwen Volkov, A graduate of the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland with a degree in International Finance, Arwen specializes in sustainable finance and green investments. She began her career at an investment bank in London, where she developed financing models for environmentally friendly projects. Known for her analytical and strategic thinking skills, Arwen is a sought-after financial consultant. In her spare time, she mentors fintech startups, contributing to their growth strategies. She is also a nature enthusiast and an amateur photographer.
