DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — After announcing plans to reopen Three Mile Island last week, both Microsoft and Constellation Energy Co. received White House support.
A senior advisor to the President on International Climate Policy says that the White House is in favor of the plan to reopen Three Mile Island in Londonderry Township.
The facility has been closed since 2019 for what were deemed economic reasons. Officials noted Unit 1 operated at industry-leading levels of safety and reliability for decades before being shut down.
Last week, Constellation and Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement that will pave the way for the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC) and restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1.
Microsoft will purchase energy from the CCEC in a bid to match the power its data centers use with carbon-free energy.
Now, John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, says the White House supports the plan:
“This week’s announcement of an agreement between Constellation and Microsoft shows that we can create good-paying and union jobs and power our nation’s industries of the future with clean, safe, affordable energy. We’re proud that clean energy tax credits in President Biden and Vice President Harris’s Inflation Reduction Act will help support this project and create good-paying and union jobs in nuclear power in Pennsylvania.”
Unit 1 was located directly next to Unit 2, which shut down after a nuclear meltdown in 1979. Unit 2 is in the process of being decommissioned, officials said. This process will not affect Unit 1, as it is a fully independent facility.
The companies are preparing to restart the plant by making significant investments in its turbine, generator, main power transformer and cooling and control systems. Restarting a nuclear reactor requires U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval following a comprehensive safety and environmental review, as well as permits from relevant state and local agencies. Constellation will also pursue a license renewal that will extend plant operations to at least 2054. The CCEC is expected to be online in 2028.