On March 28, 1979, a malfunction in a reactor caused it to lose its ability to cool and the core melted.
It is often the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. While there were no significant amounts of radioactive material released into the surrounding area, public concerns about nuclear safety led to the closing of Three Mile Island’s Unit 2.
However, Unit 1 stayed in operation until 2019, eventually shutting down due to economic reasons.
Nearly 45 years after one of the worst nuclear malfunctions in U.S. history and five years after closing, Microsoft is filing permits to reopen Unit 1 to power its data centers.
Nuclear energy as a power source for data centers has become increasingly popular with big companies, such as Amazon, who signed a deal earlier this year to purchase nuclear energy.
The projected reopening in 2028 provides a unique opportunity sanctioned by the government.
The deal entails Microsoft being the sole purchaser of all the energy made, making the plant off the grid.
Since it is an onshore data center, the government would regulate the center and the plants.
With the center based in the US, officials hope this will begin Microsoft’s journey to create more centers within the country and become more cost-efficient by producing their own chips.
This effort could inhibit AI growth as well as be the start of the nuclear power’s resurgence.
As tech giants race to control the industry, their efforts to honor their pledges of carbon negativity incentivize the search for cleaner, effective, and more reliable energy.
The promise of controlling the new forefront of technology through AI has created a turn toward easy energy.
So far, three plans to reopen nuclear power sites, Susquehanna, Duane Arnold, and Three Mile Island plant, have marked the start of a new era of clean energy.
However, the opportunity to snag a shuttered plant is rare, and this most likely will lead to new reactors being built.
The Microsoft investment could contribute 3,400 jobs and 16 billion dollars to Pennsylvania’s economy.
With the new forefront of AI in technology and the race to it, tech moguls are consuming more energy than ever.
Keeping climate activists and scientists concerned about the prospect of a better future, nuclear power could present itself as the new forefront.
The government support of onshore production certainly promises national success in new energy technologies as well as being the lead in AI development.
