US nuclear power plants Three Mile Islandsite of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, is restarting operations in a deal to sell power to Microsoft, Constellation Energy said Friday.
The company announced that the 20-year deal would see the restart of the Unit 1 reactor, “which operated at industry-leading levels of safety and reliability for decades before it was shut down for financial reasons exactly five years ago today.”
Microsoft will buy energy from the facility as part of its goal to match the power its data centers use with carbon-free technology, according to a press release announcing the deal. The reactor is expected to be online in 2028, pending approval from the US Nuclear Energy Commission.
An economic impact study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council found that reopening the facility will create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs, according to the news release. It would also add up to 837 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to the grid that could power more than 800,000 average homes.
The plant’s restart will also add $16 billion to the state’s GDP and generate more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes, according to the report.
The Unit 1 reactor was not involved in the 1979 partial meltdown at the Pennsylvania site. “Significant investments” are being made to restore the reactor, including updating its turbine, generator, cooling and control systems and main power transformer, according to the press release.
The facility will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, in honor of former Constellation Energy CEO Chris Crane, who died in April.