Microsoft Eyes Three US Mile Island to Power AI with Nuclear Energy Boost

Microsoft wants to support its clean energy goals and facilitate the growth of its data centers by bringing the Three Mile Island nuclear plant back to life.

Microsoft just agreed to bring the closed Three Mile Island nuclear power plant back to life. If the government agrees, the software company would be able to use all of the product for its own AI data center needs.

Constellation, which owns the Three Mile Island plant, revealed earlier today that it had reached a deal with Microsoft to buy power. If the deal goes through, the site should be back online in 2028, as long as regulators agree to it.

For economic reasons, the plant that Microsoft wants to get its power from shut down in 2019. It is next to a unit that shut down in 1979 after the worst nuclear accident in US history. Constellation wants to restart a plant that can make 837 megawatts of energy, which is enough to power more than 800,000 homes. This shows how much power is needed for data centers and Microsoft’s AI goals.

Microsoft’s 20-Year Commitment to Nuclear Power

Microsoft has decided to buy power from the plant for 20 years. The deal is the first of its kind for the software giant, and the plant will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Centre in honour of the late Chris Crane, who was CEO of Exelon.

As Microsoft focuses on AI, it releases more greenhouse gases into the air. This could hurt its long-term climate goals. Bloomberg says this nuclear plant would help Microsoft reach its goal of running all of its data centers on clean energy by 2025. It would also help Microsoft power data center growth in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Chicago.

“This agreement is a big step forward in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid and meet our goal of becoming carbon negative,” says Bobby Hollis, Microsoft’s vice president of energy. As a way to help meet the capacity and reliability needs of the grids, Microsoft is still working with energy companies to create carbon-free energy sources.

Microsoft recently put a lot of money on next-generation nuclear reactors to power its AI and data center plans. Last year, the company was looking for someone who could come up with a plan for small modular reactors (SMR). Also, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, says, “I really think that nuclear energy can help us solve the climate problem.”

Constellation will spend $1.6 billion to bring the plant back to life. To do this, the company will need permission from state and local governments as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Constellation is also trying to get its license renewed so that the plant can keep running until at least 2054.