Microsoft's Energy Needs Prompt Early Reactivation of US Nuclear Plant

The Three Mile Island nuclear facility may soon resume operations to meet the growing energy demands of Microsoft's artificial intelligence data centers, according to Constellation Energy, the plant's operator.

Last September, Microsoft announced its intention to significantly increase its reliance on nuclear energy to satisfy its rising energy requirements for AI operations. The software giant entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy, which specializes in providing CO2-neutral electricity from nuclear power sources. This agreement aims to bring the decommissioned TMI Block 1 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant back online by 2028. However, Constellation's CEO, Joe Dominguez, indicated that the reactor might be operational sooner than expected.

During a press conference, Dominguez stated that the facility could be ready to supply power by 2027, contingent on the local grid operator, serving the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) region, reconnecting the plant to the electrical grid. The 837-megawatt reactor was taken offline in 2019 due to a lack of necessary subsidies to compete with cheaper fossil fuels. Dominguez acknowledged that shutting down the plant was a misstep but emphasized the importance of focusing on future possibilities.

Three Mile Island gained notoriety in 1979 when it experienced the most significant nuclear accident in US history, resulting in a partial meltdown at Reactor Block 2. Following the incident, Constellation permanently decommissioned that reactor while keeping TMI Block 1 operational for several more decades until its closure in 2019 for economic reasons. Recently, the facility was renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center.

Reactivating Block 1 poses several challenges, as noted by The Register. Although the reactor has been inactive for just six years, it has been in existence for over 50 years. Significant upgrades to the turbine, generator, transformers, and cooling and control systems will be necessary before the reactor can generate electricity again. Moreover, approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be required, but Constellation is well-equipped to handle this, as the company operates 21 nuclear reactors across the country.

Given the insatiable energy demands driven by the current surge in generative artificial intelligence, Microsoft is not the only major cloud service provider exploring nuclear energy. Other tech giants are also turning to nuclear solutions to meet their energy requirements. Recently, Meta signed a similar 20-year agreement with Constellation to enhance operations at the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois, which was at risk of being decommissioned. Meta has also sought proposals for up to four gigawatts of nuclear power to be made available by 2030, as its AI operations require substantial energy resources.

Additionally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has heavily invested in nuclear energy, acquiring a nuclear facility from Cumulus Data for $650 million. This facility is situated adjacent to Talen Energy's 2.5-gigawatt Susquehanna nuclear plant in northeastern Pennsylvania. The original agreement ensured AWS's direct access to at least 480 megawatts of clean energy, but recent modifications were made due to concerns from local energy suppliers regarding grid stability. As a result, Talen will now supply AWS data centers in the region with up to 1.92 gigawatts of grid power until the end of 2042.

In addition to existing nuclear plants, large-scale cloud providers, including Google and Oracle, are showing interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) as potential energy sources for data centers. These compact nuclear facilities could enhance the output of existing reactors, although experts predict that most SMRs will not be operational until the early 2030s.

The shift towards nuclear energy by hyperscale cloud providers has drawn criticism due to the unresolved issues surrounding nuclear waste disposal and associated safety risks. Furthermore, nuclear projects often come with high costs and long construction timelines, potentially overshadowing alternative, sustainable energy solutions. Critics worry that this focus on nuclear energy could hinder the development of genuinely innovative and sustainable energy sources.