Three Mile Island

2024: Depreservation of nuclear power plants for the supply of electricity to Microsoft

On September 20, 2024, the American company Constellation Energy announced the conclusion of a multi-year agreement with Microsoft, which provides for the resumption of operation of the Three Mile Island emergency nuclear power plant (Three Mile Island). Under the contract, signed for 20 years, Microsoft will purchase generated electricity for its facilities.

Three Mile Island Station is known for the largest commercial nuclear power engineering specialists USA accident in history. The incident occurred on March 28, 1979 at the second power unit of the nuclear power plant due to a timely failure to detect a leak of the primary coolant of the reactor plant. As a result, about 50% of the reactor core melted, and the power unit itself was never restored. At the same time, the first power unit was not damaged - it was operated until 2019, after which it was mothballed due to unprofitability and the refusal of the authorities to subsidize the facility. It is this power unit that will be restarted within the framework of the concluded agreement.

source = Wikipedia

On the basis of the reactor the Center of pure power of Crane (Crane Clean Energy Center, CCEC) for electrical supply to data-processing centers of Microsoft will be created. The plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2028: it will provide about 835 MW of carbon-free energy. It is said that the project will create approximately 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and provide more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes.

This agreement is an important milestone as part of Microsoft's large-scale initiative to decarbonize activities. The corporation continues to partner with energy suppliers to create carbon-free sources to help meet the needs of the industry and ensure the necessary reliability, says Bobby Hollis, vice president of power at Microsoft.[1]

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