DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Energy officials announced plans to restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island, marking a new partnership between Constellation Energy and Microsoft.
The initiative comes five years after the final nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island was shut down. Under the deal, the power plant will enter into a 20-year energy supply agreement with Microsoft, raising concerns among locals, some of who still remember the partial nuclear meltdown the plant experienced 45 years ago.
Nathan Moore, a Middletown Borough resident who remembers the partial meltdown, recalled the uncertainty that filled the community after the incident.
“There was a lot of anxiety and they didn’t know what would happen next,” he said.
This is why safety is a top concern, both for those who remember the meltdown and those who don’t.
Serit Rai wasn’t alive to witness the aftermath of the meltdown, but as a Middletown Borough resident, she expressed that if history repeats itself, Middletown’s reputation could be damaged. While she didn’t experience the incident herself, the Netflix documentary, “Three Mile Island” gave Rai a better understanding of what happened, which is why she believes some community members may be hesitant about the new partnership at first.
“We should probably have more consideration before we take a step, but as long as we have enough safety precautions I think we should be fine,” Rai said.
Others, like Brenda Brubaker, a Middletown Borough resident with a strong connection to Three Mile Island, are hopeful the partnership will bring job opportunities back to the area.
“My husband retired from there, he worked there for something like 45 years,” Brubaker said.
Energy officials estimate that once the plant is restarted, 600 full-time positions will be added to the local job market. Brubaker hopes this will continue to safeguard the community like her husband used to.
“What we need in this country now is hard workers. Workers that know their job well enough to be careful and take care of the people who all live here,” Brubaker said.
Some are encouraged the agreement will help reboot local businesses, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says took an estimated $9 million hit during the emergency.
“Many people left the area. Some people never came back cause they thought it could happen again,” Moore said.
And with 45 years of experience since the incident, Moore believes this time will be better.
He explained, “That was experimental at the time and they didn’t know quite what they were dealing with. But now they have much more information.
