Three Mile Island Redux — Nuke Will Be Restarted To Energy Microsoft Knowledge Middle – CleanTechnica – TechnoNews

Join every day information updates from CleanTechnica on e mail. Or comply with us on Google Information!

In keeping with the New York Occasions, Constellation Power plans to reopen the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, the positioning of the worst reactor accident in United States historical past. Three Mile Island turned notorious when one among its two reactors partly melted down in 1979. The opposite reactor saved working safely for many years till lastly closing, for financial causes, 5 years in the past.

Now a revival is at hand. Microsoft, which wants super quantities of electrical energy for its rising fleet of information facilities, has agreed to purchase as a lot energy as it could actually from the plant for 20 years. Constellation plans to spend $1.6 billion to refurbish the reactor that just lately closed and restart it by 2028, pending regulatory approval. “The symbolism is enormous,” mentioned Joseph Dominguez, chief govt of Constellation, the nation’s largest nuclear operator. “This was the site of the industry’s greatest failure, and now it can be a place of rebirth.”

Till just lately, the US nuclear business appeared to be in everlasting decline. Electrical utilities closed 13 reactors between 2012 and 2022 within the face of competitors from low-cost pure gasoline and rising wind and solar energy. However with power demand spiking and fears of local weather change rising, many states and companies are reconsidering nuclear energy, which might produce electrical energy across the clock with out emitting the greenhouse gases which are heating the planet. Congress just lately permitted a tax credit score aimed toward protecting present nuclear reactors operating for years to come back. In California, lawmakers reversed a choice to close down the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. And in Michigan, Holtec Worldwide is trying to restart the Palisades nuclear plant, which closed in 2022.

Reviving Three Mile Island

It’s not simple to reopen a nuclear reactor that has been mothballed for years. Constellation employees have been inspecting the closed reactor at Three Mile Island for the final 20 months, checking for indicators of corrosion or decay. The corporate would wish to interchange the reactor’s essential energy transformer in addition to restore its generators and cooling methods. It additionally wants about 600 employees to employees the plant. When Three Mile Island shut down in 2019, most of its staff have been despatched by Constellation to different states. Many at the moment are wanting to return, Dominguez mentioned. The refurbished unit is not going to be affected by the opposite reactor that melted down within the Seventies, referred to as Unit 2. It’s at present within the means of being dismantled.

The brand new plant may even get a picture makeover. It is going to be renamed the Crane Clear Power Middle, after a former chief govt Chris Crane, who died in April. Politicians in Pennsylvania hailed the announcement. “This will transform the local economy and presents a rare opportunity to power our economy with reliable clean energy that we can count on,” mentioned Tom Mehaffie, a Republican state consultant whose district contains the plant. “This is a rare and valuable opportunity to invest in clean, carbon-free and affordable power — on the heels of the hottest year in Earth’s history.” One current ballot discovered that 57 p.c of Pennsylvania residents supported reopening Three Mile Island “as long as it does not include new taxes or increased electricity rates.”

Dominguez mentioned Constellation would pay to refurbish the plant fully out of its personal pocket, and Microsoft can be on the hook for getting electrical energy from the plant for 20 years. “We’re not asking for a penny from the state or from utility customers,” he mentioned.

Some folks stay against any restart. In August, a couple of dozen protesters stood exterior the plant’s gates to protest the potential reopening, holding up indicators commemorating the accident and recalling how residents have been compelled to evacuate after the partial meltdown, which triggered no casualties however triggered widespread panic. Edwin Lyman, a physicist and critic of nuclear energy on the Union of Involved Scientists, mentioned that safely reviving a reactor that had been shut down for therefore lengthy might show extra technically difficult than anticipated. “No one’s really done this before,” he mentioned.

Knowledge & Power

Tech corporations like Microsoft and Amazon have proven an rising curiosity in nuclear energy as they battle to fulfill the rising power calls for of synthetic intelligence. Knowledge facilities want energy 24 hours a day, one thing wind and solar energy alone can’t present. However many tech corporations even have bold targets for preventing local weather change and like to not use electrical energy produced by burning coal or gasoline. “Only a few short years ago, tech companies scoffed at buying nuclear electricity,” mentioned Mark Nelson, managing director of Radiant Power Group, an power consultancy. “The return of Three Mile Island is the return of hard reality.”

Synthetic intelligence is a fabulous factor, little doubt about it. The electrical energy wanted to generate Michael Barnard’s AI graphics alone is a couple of gigawatt! The amount of cash being spent to energy knowledge facilities is staggering. In his most up-to-date publish, Barnard says fairly clearly that nuclear energy is distracting us from taking the actions wanted to handle world heating.

In Europe, Microsoft introduced just lately it could make investments $3.2 billion for knowledge facilities in Sweden. Earlier this 12 months, it mentioned it could double its knowledge middle footprint in Germany, whereas additionally pledging a $4.3 billion knowledge middle funding for AI infrastructure in France. Amazon introduced a community of information facilities within the state of Brandenburg as a part of a $8.5 billion funding in Germany, later dedicating one other $17.1 billion to Spain. Google mentioned it could spend $1.1 billion on its knowledge middle in Finland to drive AI progress. Cautious readers could discover the quantities of cash being spend to energy AI is equal to the quantity being invested within the manufacture of electrical autos.

The Takeaway

As soon as refurbished, the reactor at Three Mile Island can have a capability of 835 megawatts. The New York Occasions says that is sufficient to energy greater than 700,000 properties, however in all probability, not one electron from the refurbished nuke will energy a lot as a light-weight bulb in any residence. The whole output will probably be utilized by Microsoft to broaden its synthetic intelligence functionality.

Some persons are giddy that nuclear energy is getting a brand new lease on life. There have all the time been those that assume nuclear is the best concept since sliced bread. However do we actually need to embrace nuclear energy simply so we will use ChatGPT? Is that the very best and greatest use of our effort and time? Right here at CleanTechnica, the response to the information about Three Mile Island being revived is that of 1 hand clapping. It’s higher than constructing new coal-fired producing stations however hardly looks like trigger for rejoicing.

It was solely a short time in the past that individuals have been warning darkly that electrical automobiles would wish a lot electrical energy to maintain their batteries charged that they might crash the grid. However now that knowledge facilities appear more likely to want vastly extra electrical energy than EVs, there’s not a touch of concern to be heard wherever. Odd how when the FUDsters paid by the fossil gas corporations will not be despatched into battle, nobody appears in the slightest degree involved about diverting monumental quantities of electrical energy to be used by knowledge facilities, even when it means protecting nuclear energy crops in service for longer and longer durations of time.

As Michael Barnard says, nuclear is a delaying tactic on the highway to renewable power. We’d like much less of it, no more. That’s why we’re not all that excited that the lifetime of Three Mile Island is being prolonged.