DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Constellation Energy is gearing up to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1, with plans to rename the reactor as the Crane Clean Energy Center.
“We’re taking this very seriously.," said Dave Marcheskie, community relations manager for Constellation's Crane Clean Energy Center Unit 1. "There’s $1.6 billion of private investment that we’re putting up there. This is not on the back of state ratepayers.”
It’s a move some see as controversial, following what was the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history at TMI’s Unit 2.
That reactor is in the process of being decommissioned by its owner, Energy Solutions.
“Those folks who were here in ’79, I get it. It was a tough time for folks in the area," Marcheskie said. "What I can say unequivocally is Unit 1 has had 45 years of safety and performance. Our company has owned this Unit 1 since 2000, and when it shut down in 2019 due to economic reasons, not because of safety or performance, was one of the best-run power plants in the country, in our fleet, and in the world as well.”
The company gave FOX43 an inside look at the reactor on Wednesday.
Constellation says the plant's original 835-megawatt generator has been cleaned and inspected. It's still in good enough condition to support the restart.
“We did a lot of pre-work before [our] announcement to make sure the components inside the plant are good to run and can do so safely," Marcheskie explained.
We also stepped inside the plant’s main operation center. The analog design will continue to be used through the restart. But there’s still a lot more work to be done.
“We need to put oil in the motors, we have to re-energize the plant, get the water back in there, and put the reactor back together," said Marcheskie. "All those things have been laid out with full oversight by the DOE and NRC.”
Constellation has inked a 20-year deal with Microsoft to power its data centers, but the company says that will not be the exclusive use of the plant.
“This is not a behind the meter deal," Marcheskie said. "All the 835 megawatts generated here at Crane Clean Energy Center will go to the grid and essentially Microsoft is just supporting those dollars to buy that electricity.”
The company expects to receive approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the next couple years and reopen Unit 1 in 2028.