The U. S. Department of Energy said Tuesday it will loan $1 billion to help finance the restart of the long-idle nuclear reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, which is under contract to supply power to Microsoft data centers. The move aligns with President Donald Trump’s priorities of boosting nuclear energy and supporting the growth of artificial intelligence. For Constellation Energy, which owns the site’s remaining operable reactor, the federal loan is expected to reduce financing costs as the company works to bring the 835-megawatt unit back online. The reactor, capable of powering roughly 800, 000 homes, has been offline since 2019 but is slated for a 2027 restart under a 20-year agreement for Microsoft to purchase its output. Constellation announced last year that it would invest $1. 6 billion to restart the unit now renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center and has begun restoring major equipment including the turbine, generator, main power transformer, and cooling and control systems. The loan is being issued through a $250 billion federal energy infrastructure program approved by Congress in 2022. Neither the Energy Department nor Constellation disclosed specific loan terms. Three Mile Island, located in the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear accident in 1979, when a partial meltdown destroyed Unit 2. The plant’s remaining reactor, Unit 1, operated for decades until Constellation’s former parent company, Exelon, shuttered it in 2019, citing financial losses and the absence of state subsidies to keep the facility running. The restart comes amid renewed political and industry interest in nuclear power as policymakers seek carbon-free energy sources to meet rising electricity demand, particularly from power-hungry data centers. Federal officials say reviving existing nuclear plants will be critical to maintaining grid reliability and supporting long-term climate goals. This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow. This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
https://www.newsweek.com/three-mile-island-trump-energy-nuclear-reactor-loan-pennsylvania-11070646
Trump Administration Reviving Three Mile Island With $1 Billion Loan
