The stopped nuclear power plant in the USA will be reopened for Microsoft
The American corporation Microsoft on Friday concluded a 20-year contract with the company Constellation Energy, which plans to restart the first power unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The energy produced by the nuclear power plant is used by Microsoft to support artificial intelligence development projects, the Financial Times reports.
Microsoft will invest about $1.6 billion in the project to restart the nuclear power plant. According to the terms of the agreement, the restarted first power unit will produce more than 800 MW of electricity.
The Three Mile Island First Power Unit was closed on September 20, 2019. After the resumption of work, this will be the first case of restarting a non-working nuclear power plant in the USA, the Financial Times emphasizes.
The second power unit of the station, closed in 1979 after the partial meltdown of the reactor core, which caused the largest nuclear accident in the history of the United States, will not be restored under this agreement.
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence infrastructure calls into question the plans of technology giants to reduce their carbon footprint. Already in 2023, data centers serving AI and other digital services consumed 3-4 percent of all US electricity. According to forecasts, by 2030 this indicator may increase to 9 percent.
Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez called the decision to use a nuclear reactor for AI “a bright symbol of the renaissance of nuclear power as a clean and reliable source of energy.”
