Clean energy
AI’s hunger for electricity – Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is reactivated

The Three Miles Island power plant began operations in 1974
© Richard Hertzler/ / Picture Alliance
The Three Mile Island power plant was the site of the largest nuclear accident in the USA. 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 known worldwide when a core meltdown occurred in the reactor of Block II in 1979. Block II was destroyed, but Block I continued to operate until 2019. After that, the power plant was shut down. Now it looks as if Block I will be reactivated. It is scheduled to go back online as early as 2028, the operator Constellation announced.
If the regulatory authorities approve it, the power plant will operate until 2054. The reason is Microsoft, because the tech giant buys all the electricity. Microsoft has signed a 20-year deal to cover the energy consumption of its data centers with carbon-free electricity. Constellation said it was the largest power purchase agreement the company has ever signed.
Accident in Three Mile Island
“This decision is the strongest symbol of the rebirth of nuclear power as a clean and reliable energy source,” said Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation. Since the name Three Mile Island has a negative connotation, the power plant will be renamed Crane Clean Energy Center. The restart of the plant is expected to cost $1.6 billion.
The power plant is located on an island in the Susquehanna River across from Harrisburg. In 1979, a partial meltdown occurred due to a mechanical failure and human error. Although no one was killed and only small amounts of radioactivity were released, no new nuclear power plants were built in the United States after that.
Sharply increasing electricity demand
Three Mile Island is not an isolated case. The predicted triumph of artificial intelligence will massively increase the electricity demand of data centers worldwide. Goldman Sachs assumes that data centers will consume eight percent of total US electricity demand by 2030, compared to three percent currently. Added to this is the increasing demand from electric vehicles. The major tech companies are increasingly relying on nuclear power. Amazon Web Services gets its electricity from the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. Oracle recently announced that it is designing a data center that will be powered by three small nuclear reactors.
Nuclear power will support Microsoft’s plans to run its entire global network of data centers on clean energy by 2025, said Bobby Hollis, Microsoft’s vice president of energy. Wind and solar power output can fluctuate, while a nuclear plant is constantly running and needs a customer to take all the power, Hollis said. Steady power consumption and production are an ideal complement. “We work 24/7. They work 24/7.”