Artificial Intelligence: US reactivates nuclear unit to supply Microsoft

The American energy group Constellation announced on Friday the reactivation of a nuclear unit in Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, where the most serious nuclear accident in the history of USAto supply electricity to the data centers of Microsoft.

According to the company’s statement, the agreement signed with the American computer giant has a duration of 20 years and will allow the relaunch of unit 1, next to the one that was the scene of the 1979 accident.

The Unit 1 reactor, which was not involved in the accident 45 years ago, “operated at the industry’s highest safety and reliability levels for decades before being shut down for economic reasons exactly five years ago,” he noted.

American media reported that Microsoft will take advantage of this to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, a rapidly growing sector that requires large amounts of energy.

Constellation Energy said the reactor will be back online in 2028.

“This agreement is an important milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to becoming carbon negative,” said Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft.

Three Mile Island caused panic in the United States when, on March 28, 1979, its Unit 2 reactor partially melted down.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission called the accident “the most serious in the operating history of a commercial nuclear power plant in the United States, although its small radioactive emissions had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public.”