Three Mile Island to be restarted

crescent

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crescent
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The Mile Island nuke plant will be restarted under a 20-year deal to provide power for Microsoft data centers.

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/co...-power-plant-microsoft-data-center-ppa/727652

Also reported in paywalled but generally accurate sources like Wall Street Journal and New York times.

It'll take three or four years to get it going again. This was obviously the site of America's worst nuclear power plant accident, in which not one single person was injured.
 
Thermal said:
Microsoft needs a private nuclear power plant for its local usage?
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No, it doesn't. They are paying to increase grid capacity to match what they anticipate using. But they'll still be pulling from the grid, not a closed private system. At least that's how I understand it:

Microsoft will purchase energy from the reactivated power plant over 20 years to match power consumed by its data centers in the PJM Interconnection, Constellation said in a news release. But there are no plans to colocate a Microsoft data center at the plant,
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Thermal said:
Microsoft needs a private nuclear power plant for its local usage?
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I assume it's a matter of adding more power to the regional grid to account for the rise in demand from more datacenters.

Something like:

"We're projecting a fourfold increase in datacenter power demands over the next 15 years. We'd like it if the grid kept up."

"With what generators?"

"How about 3MI?"

"With what money?"

"If you guarantee the power, we'll pitch in on the renovations."

"Deal!"
 
Odd way for a discussion to go.

"We plan on monopolizing your local power grid. Howzabout reactivation of the abandoned and woefully outdated site of the nation's worst nuclear disaster?"

"How about **** off."
 
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Thermal said:
Odd way for a discussion to go.

"We plan on monopolizing your local power grid. Howzabout reactivation of the abandoned and woefully outdated site of the nation's worst nuclear disaster?"

"How about **** off."
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The reactor in question was in operation until 2019. And nuclear reactors don't get abandoned, not the way that other power plants might get abandoned. It shut down not because of any technical or safety issues, but purely for financial reasons. If Microsoft is providing the funding, then that solves the financial problem. Given that the reactor is already built (and that capital expense is a very big part of the cost of nuclear power), seems like a sensible plan to me.

And as already mentioned, the worst nuclear power plant disaster in US history (NOT the worst nuclear disaster in US history) didn't even injure a single person. Chernobyl this was not. There have been US nuclear disasters that did kill people (read up on the demon core for one fascinating and horrific story), but they didn't involved power plants.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
Given current labor protection laws, plenty of people are going to get injured this time.
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Working in a US nuclear power plant is a very safe job. You're much more likely to get hurt in construction than in operating a nuclear power plant, but the construction work is already done.

And why do you think President Biden has destroyed labor protection laws anyways?
 
Ziggurat said:
More likely FORTRAN programmers.
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When I visited the Pickering Nuclear Generating StationWP when it was under construction the early 1970s (ISTR) they were installing he control computers which were some model of IBM control computer whose model number escapes me. So it's more likely an assembler language.

I have stood in front of the Calandria(qv) in the location more or less where the guys in the picture at this web site are standing:
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/candu-a-canadian-success-story/

(It wasn't fuelled at the time.)
 
It’s in line with some other developments around the world. In Japan, there is a leadership election for the currently ruling party so it means, in effect, for the new prime minister. The candidate who was most opposed to nuclear power has changed his mind and thinks that Japan needs as much power as possible for the AI revolution. I expect the same reasoning is behind this news as well.

I’m going to make a long-shot bet and think that within a couple of years, Germany will be trying to fire up their nukes again.
 
dudalb said:
You just don;t like nuclear power, period.
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Neither do you - you just like the shiny bit in the middle and pretend the **** show that is uranium mining, decommissioning and storage isn't actually part of nuclear power.

It's a terribly expensive way to make energy if you make an honest accounting of all the costs.

Which is why it is always taxpayers who end up paying, not companies.
 
I wonder if there is a political angle to it.

I mean, I am sure there is...

The deal will create approximately 3,400 jobs and bring in more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes, according to the company. It also said the agreement will add $16 billion to Pennsylvania's GDP.
The agreement will span 20 years, and the plant is expected to reopen in 2028. It will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center in honor of Chris Crane, who died in April and served as the CEO of Constellation’s former parent company.

“Pennsylvania’s nuclear energy industry plays a critical role in providing safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity that helps reduce emissions and grow Pennsylvania’s economy,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
Unlike power plants using fossil fuels, like coal or natural gas, nuclear plants do not directly release carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming.
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Link

Let's face it, nuclear beats fracking, right? But fracking is a political issue too. It would be nice to have something to offer in return for phasing out fracking.
 
The Great Zaganza said:
Neither do you - you just like the shiny bit in the middle and pretend the **** show that is uranium mining, decommissioning and storage isn't actually part of nuclear power.

It's a terribly expensive way to make energy if you make an honest accounting of all the costs.

Which is why it is always taxpayers who end up paying, not companies.
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There has to be some reason that nuclear power is being turned to rather than, say, renewables or fossil fuels. Is it just the power of lobbying?

My assumption is that there must be something about fossil fuels that make them unattractive. That is easy to explain of course, but the assumption is that the environment is being cared for on one side but not on any other. Apparently nobody, not even non-nuclear countries is making a go of renewables the way that they could, and nuclear power plants are being turned to once again.

Maybe there is more to it than simple greed or corruption.
 
angrysoba said:
There has to be some reason that nuclear power is being turned to rather than, say, renewables or fossil fuels. Is it just the power of lobbying?

My assumption is that there must be something about fossil fuels that make them unattractive. That is easy to explain of course, but the assumption is that the environment is being cared for on one side but not on any other. Apparently nobody, not even non-nuclear countries is making a go of renewables the way that they could, and nuclear power plants are being turned to once again.

Maybe there is more to it than simple greed or corruption.
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I'd say there's a difference between turning on a plant that already exists but hasn't been in use, and building a completely new plant. In the case of nuclear, unless it's in a state of extreme disrepair, it pretty much always makes sense to keep running these things. Most of the cost is upfront cost, so not using them just seems crazy.

If we're talking about a tradeoff between building more nuclear and building more solar, I think that can be a complex conversation, but when it comes to just keeping the existing infrastructure running its really a no brainer.
 
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