Important Takeaways:
- Microsoft AI Needs So Much Power It’s Tapping Site of US Nuclear Meltdown
- The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania will invest $1.6 billion to revive it, agreeing to sell all the output to Microsoft Corp. as the tech titan seeks carbon-free electricity for data centers to power the artificial intelligence boom.
- Constellation Energy Corp., the biggest US operator of reactors, expects Three Mile Island to go back into service in 2028, according to a statement Friday.
- While one of the site’s two units permanently closed almost a half-century ago after the worst US nuclear accident, Constellation is planning to reopen the other reactor, which shut in 2019 because it couldn’t compete economically.
- Microsoft has agreed to purchase the energy for two decades and declined to disclose financial terms.
- This is the first time Microsoft has secured a dedicated, 100% nuclear facility for its use.
- The decision is the latest sign of surging interest in the nuclear industry as power demand for AI soars.
- “There’s no version of the future of this country that doesn’t rely on these nuclear assets.”
- Wind and solar power outputs can vary, while a nuclear plant generally runs constantly and requires a customer that can take all of that electricity
- That makes tech companies selling cloud computing an ideal option.
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