Wendy Smith was terrified she would never be able to return home after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979.
The central Pennsylvanian was one of about 80,000 people who evacuated during the partial meltdown – an incident that halted the growth of the U.S. nuclear power industry for decades.
Now, a deal with Microsoft is reviving the plant, which has been shuttered for five years.
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Smith does not want to see a restart of the plant that caused such panic.
“I am appalled, horrified, infuriated that this is happening,” Smith said. “This decision is so short-sighted. Do we never learn from our mistakes?”
The meltdown – the country’s most serious nuclear accident – permanently damaged the plant’s Unit 2 reactor and it never reopened.
However, Unit 1 was not affected and operated safely until 2019 when owner Exelon shuttered it for being unprofitable. The single-reactor plant could not compete economically with the state’s cheap natural gas or new renewable sources. An effort in the state legislature to create a subsidy for the plant failed.
READ: A new life is proposed for Three Mile Island supplying power to Microsoft data centers
The Microsoft deal is making the reactor viable again.
That’s proof of the market at work, according to André Béliveau, who oversees energy policy at the conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation. He called the restart deal a victory for reliable energy and market-driven solutions.
“Refiring the closed reactor through private investment demonstrates that Pennsylvania does not need subsidies for nuclear power. The market will deliver reliable, affordable, and clean power far better than government central planning, and here is a case study demonstrating it,” Béliveau said.
The move is also being hailed by those who want to cut climate pollution and by people who expect an economic benefit from the plant running. But it’s opposed by people who are concerned about the risks of radiation from nuclear power and waste.
Going nuclear for the climate
Nuclear is now more appealing in the market to those who want to cut dependence on fossil fuels. Nuclear plants don’t emit the planet-warming pollution that coal- and gas-burning plants do. Scientists say we must cut emissions rapidly to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Microsoft made the agreement as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It wants the plant’s electricity to power its data centers within the PJM electric grid, which includes Pennsylvania.
The tech company has an ambitious goal to go “carbon-negative” by 2030, meaning it would remove more emissions from the atmosphere than what is created by powering all its operations.
Constellation – which was formed when Exelon divided its business, and now owns TMI Unit 1 – hopes to have the plant back online by 2028. To do that, it will need to go through a safety and environmental review and get approval from federal and state regulators. The restarted plant will be rebranded as the Crane Clean Energy Center, named after a former Constellation CEO.
Jesse Jenkins, who studies energy systems at Princeton University, said demand for power is growing across the country because of technology needs, electrification efforts for buildings and transportation, and manufacturing.
To reduce emissions, he said we need to add a lot of clean power to the grid.
“Restarting this old nuclear plant that was recently idled is one way to get a very large amount of clean energy onto the grid quickly,” he said.
Nuclear plants can operate 24 hours a day, and they generate a lot of power – TMI will create more than 800 megawatts. So, experts say, they’re a good complement to renewable sources like wind and solar, which are variable.
By buying power from the plant, Microsoft will avoid increasing demand for fossil fuel power.
“One way to think about it is that Microsoft is effectively neutralizing the impact of their data center on the grid by ensuring that when they add this new demand, they’re also adding an equivalent amount of new, round-the-clock clean electricity supply,” Jenkins said.
There are very few retired nuclear plants where this effort could be replicated. One other closed nuclear plant – Palisades, in Michigan – is also trying to restart.
This story is produced in partnership with StateImpact Pennsylvania, a collaboration among The Allegheny Front, WPSU, WITF and WHYY to cover the commonwealth's energy economy.
Smith does not want to see a restart of the plant that caused such panic.
“I am appalled, horrified, infuriated that this is happening,” Smith said. “This decision is so short-sighted. Do we never learn from our mistakes?”
The meltdown – the country’s most serious nuclear accident – permanently damaged the plant’s Unit 2 reactor and it never reopened.
However, Unit 1 was not affected and operated safely until 2019 when owner Exelon shuttered it for being unprofitable. The single-reactor plant could not compete economically with the state’s cheap natural gas or new renewable sources. An effort in the state legislature to create a subsidy for the plant failed.
READ: A new life is proposed for Three Mile Island supplying power to Microsoft data centers
The Microsoft deal is making the reactor viable again.
That’s proof of the market at work, according to André Béliveau, who oversees energy policy at the conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation. He called the restart deal a victory for reliable energy and market-driven solutions.
“Refiring the closed reactor through private investment demonstrates that Pennsylvania does not need subsidies for nuclear power. The market will deliver reliable, affordable, and clean power far better than government central planning, and here is a case study demonstrating it,” Béliveau said.
The move is also being hailed by those who want to cut climate pollution and by people who expect an economic benefit from the plant running. But it’s opposed by people who are concerned about the risks of radiation from nuclear power and waste.
Going nuclear for the climate
Nuclear is now more appealing in the market to those who want to cut dependence on fossil fuels. Nuclear plants don’t emit the planet-warming pollution that coal- and gas-burning plants do. Scientists say we must cut emissions rapidly to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Microsoft made the agreement as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It wants the plant’s electricity to power its data centers within the PJM electric grid, which includes Pennsylvania.
The tech company has an ambitious goal to go “carbon-negative” by 2030, meaning it would remove more emissions from the atmosphere than what is created by powering all its operations.
Constellation – which was formed when Exelon divided its business, and now owns TMI Unit 1 – hopes to have the plant back online by 2028. To do that, it will need to go through a safety and environmental review and get approval from federal and state regulators. The restarted plant will be rebranded as the Crane Clean Energy Center, named after a former Constellation CEO.
Jesse Jenkins, who studies energy systems at Princeton University, said demand for power is growing across the country because of technology needs, electrification efforts for buildings and transportation, and manufacturing.
To reduce emissions, he said we need to add a lot of clean power to the grid.
“Restarting this old nuclear plant that was recently idled is one way to get a very large amount of clean energy onto the grid quickly,” he said.
Nuclear plants can operate 24 hours a day, and they generate a lot of power – TMI will create more than 800 megawatts. So, experts say, they’re a good complement to renewable sources like wind and solar, which are variable.
By buying power from the plant, Microsoft will avoid increasing demand for fossil fuel power.
“One way to think about it is that Microsoft is effectively neutralizing the impact of their data center on the grid by ensuring that when they add this new demand, they’re also adding an equivalent amount of new, round-the-clock clean electricity supply,” Jenkins said.
There are very few retired nuclear plants where this effort could be replicated. One other closed nuclear plant – Palisades, in Michigan – is also trying to restart.
This story is produced in partnership with StateImpact Pennsylvania, a collaboration among The Allegheny Front, WPSU, WITF and WHYY to cover the commonwealth's energy economy.
