Microsoft Nuclear Deal to Revive Three Mile Island Reactor to Power Data Centers
Microsoft and Constellation Energy announced on Friday a collaboration to form a Microsoft nuclear deal to restart a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to meet the substantial electricity demands at its data centers.
This nuclear power deal is the first attempt to power a data center using nuclear power with an effort by the tech industry.
Microsoft Nuclear Power
This Microsoft nuclear deal was announced amidst growing concerns about the environmental impact of swelling power consumption by data centers, especially the ones used by artificial intelligence technologies.
Joe Dominguez, chief executive officer of Constellation Energy, welcomed nuclear power as the only feasible alternative that fits twin imperatives of reliability and environmental sustainability in a way that wind and solar sources might not be able to satisfy burgeoning Big Tech demand.
Back in January, Amazin signed a deal for a nuclear-powered data center with Talen Energy, a clear signal that the company is interested in more deals like it, across the industry. Goldman Sachs projects that U.S. data center energy consumption could triple between 2023 and 2030, requiring about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity to meet demand.
The goal bind combining nuclear energy and AI is somehow tough to achieve, the path to restarting the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor especially after five years offline will be very hard. “Nobody’s ever done this before,” says Kate Fowler, Marsh’s global nuclear energy leader, an energy insurance broker.
Regulatory difficulties and potential local opposition coming from the plant’s notorious 1979 partial meltdown are among the significant challenges facing the Microsoft nuclear project. The restart would reportedly cost $1.6 billion and is planned to be finished by 2028. On the other hand, essential documents for the restart have not been filed yet.
Naturally, residents may still remember the reactor incident and it would be a strong challenge, and this could make the approval process tougher.
Nuclear safety specialist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, Edwin Lyman, says the renovation of decades-old equipment is “likely to be plagued by many unforeseen technical problems” that will delay completion.
Every change that would be made to the facility’s usage of water would be subject to detailed study by various regulatory agencies, including the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
In parallel, geopolitical factors such as restrictions on imported enriched uranium following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, may also influence the broader nuclear landscape in the US.
Also, there is the fact that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently faces an unusual volume of license applications regarding the new and advanced reactor designs, further potentially complicating the approval deadline for the Three Mile Island.
Despite the challenges that Amazon’s nuclear data center faces, from a federal regulations’ perspective, the macro impacts of off-grid use of AI in nuclear energy led to greater competition for energy supplies that have the potential to raise the price of electricity.
Community engagement and environmental concerns will remain as Microsoft nuclear deal embarks on this AI in nuclear energy project. “The need for societal acceptance is going to be critical for restart,” said Sola Talabi, president of Pittsburgh Technical, an energy risk consultancy.
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