https://www.breitbart.com/tech...tm_campaign=20240920

Microsoft has partnered with Constellation Energy to revive the dormant Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, aiming to feed its power-hungry AI data centers with energy from the site of America’s most infamous nuclear accident.

Bloomberg reports that in a move that demonstrates the constantly growing energy demands of AI, Microsoft has struck a deal with Constellation Energy, the largest US operator of nuclear reactors, to resurrect the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The tech giant has agreed to purchase all the output from the plant, which is set to go back into service in 2028, as it seeks to secure a reliable source of carbon-free electricity for its data centers.

The $1.6 billion investment by Constellation Energy aims to revive one of the two reactors at the Three Mile Island site, which has been dormant since 2019 due to its inability to compete economically. The other reactor at the plant was permanently closed nearly half a century ago following the worst nuclear accident in US history.

Microsoft’s decision to partner with Constellation Energy highlights the growing demand for clean energy sources as the tech industry grapples with the power-intensive nature of artificial intelligence and machine learning applications. Data centers, which form the backbone of these technologies, require vast amounts of electricity to operate, and companies are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint while meeting these energy needs.

The agreement between Microsoft and Constellation Energy is a significant step towards achieving this goal, as nuclear power provides a stable, carbon-free energy source that can operate around the clock. By securing the entire output of the revived Three Mile Island reactor, Microsoft aims to ensure a consistent supply of clean energy for its data centers, reducing its reliance on fossil fuels and contributing to its overall sustainability efforts.

The revival of the Three Mile Island plant marks a significant milestone in the ongoing debate about the role of nuclear power in the American economy. While nuclear energy has faced criticism and concerns over safety and waste management, proponents argue that it is a necessary component of a diverse, clean energy mix.

cont...

Maybe Billly could power his AI with windmills?

SKYNET approves these great news.

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Isn't it funny how all the woke and "green" tech companies and their billionaire owners who are telling us we will have to stop driving cars, use public transportation instead, eat bugs, live in apartments instead of houses, and what have you, also have insatiable demands for electrical power?

They need the power to stay ahead of the next power hungry tech company so they can keep making money. Big surprise.

Nuclear power so everyone can have clean, efficient, cheap energy? Fuck no.

Nuclear power so a company that has more money than God can get even richer, while developing technology that will probably end up enslaving us and plunging humanity into a thousand years of darkness and misery? Fuck yeah.

Bunch of cake eaters at Microsoft.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

All these data centers paired with AI will be the death of the world as we know it. This is about tracking all of us, not making a “better world”. Oryx and Crake level shit.

TMI 1 started operations in 1974. That means the plant was designed using slide rules and (very) early computers. It also means that all the design, operational and safety improvements that resulted from TMI would need to be retrofit to a plant that is over 50 years old. I would be given a time out if I expressed my contempt for the people who believe this to be a good idea.

If AI needs power, build new plants.

Please understand two things:
1) I believe nuclear is a good option. Modern nuclear plants are light years ahead of the old Steam Electric Stations like TMI.
2) I started work in IT in 1980. I worked for a power company, PP&L, that was building a nuclear plan (Susquehanna Steam Electric Station). There were many changes made in the plant due to TMI. The engineering teams would run computer models on the plant. Those models ran on IBM 370 systems and were written in Fortran. Of course the new models run on AI so all is well.

quote:

Originally posted by airsoft guy:
Nuclear power so everyone can have clean, efficient, cheap energy? Fuck no.

Nuclear power so a company that has more money than God can get even richer, while developing technology that will probably end up enslaving us and plunging humanity into a thousand years of darkness and misery? Fuck yeah.

This. There’s really nothing else that needs to be said.

Great news for the economy of central Pennsylvania.

I think nuclear power is the only way we survive future energy needs...assuming they keep vilifying oil and gas energy. I consider this a great first (sorta) step. Obviously new nuclear tech is preferable, but if this get's things rolling, it'll be good.

Now...we also need to upgrade grids and power transmission systems!

quote:

Nuclear power so everyone can have clean, efficient, cheap energy? Fuck no.

Nuclear power so a company that has more money than God can get even richer, while developing technology that will probably end up enslaving us and plunging humanity into a thousand years of darkness and misery? Fuck yeah.

This needs to be upgraded somehow...maybe a Sig sig?

Probably need to burn more fossil fuels to cool the planet down. Air’s getting too clean and letting too much sunlight through. Nuclear’s a good energy source but it doesn’t put enough particulates in the atmosphere!

https://climatechangedispatch....ate-new-study-finds/

- I like the nuclear power option but don't see in this world how it could be cost effective (Unless they are running a Loooooong game)

- I suspect the reason for "Rebooting" 3MI is kind of like those families that put a 2,500 ft2 addition on a old 1,200 house, then dump another ~100k+ modernizing the original section...
o The "Zoning and Occupancy Permits" for lack of better words is already a done deal Of course there will be significant new inspections and such but nothing like starting from scratch somewhere else.

Also:
o The precedence is set
o Going to be hard for opposition groups to fight since it was up and running
o Tree huggers can be appeased since most efforts will clean-up or make the existing sight better/safer. No new sight will have to be created (Displacing other "Green areas" and 3MI version 2.0 would replace the next option; fossil fuel

I don't mind going to nuclear power. But it does say something if they need a nuclear power plant to provide energy for AI.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I don't mind going to nuclear power. But it does say something if they need a nuclear power plant to provide energy for AI.

Probably faster and cheaper to restart an older plant than get the EPA and other agency approvals to build a new plant.

I get that some folks just aren't comfortable with nuclear energy, but details matter.

The unit they are reviving isn't the one that had the accident in 1979. It is the other one at the location, the one that kept operating until it was shut down 2019, decades afterward.

quote:

The plan to restart Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 comes amid something of a renaissance for nuclear power, as policymakers are increasingly looking to it to bail out a fraying electric power supply ...
The accident destroyed one reactor, Unit 2, and left the plant with one functioning reactor, Unit 1.

Link: AP article, 9/20/24

Electric power plants are using massive amounts of natural gas to generate power for data centers in NOVA and they're building more data centers there as fast as they can. Now nuclear?
Making electricity always creates environmental problems, it's one thing to make what you need for heat, lights, even cars, but just to power huge energy hungry data centers for fucking AI just seems wrong.

I have no real opinion on the TMI plant, even though it's only about thirty miles from my kin in PA. If stringent regulators approve the operation of the reactor (which, as noted above, was not the one with the accident) Then okay. BUT, I would like to point out that these elites know no bounds on their hypocrisy. They're perfectly comfortable telling you out one side of their mouths what you shan't do which they claim is bad for the planet, but then have no reservations about doing it themselves.

As Victor Davis Hanson pointed out in the thread Para posted (all y'all need to go watch it) The elites' perceived superiority entitle them their hypocrisy. They know what's best for you, after all.

Ps. I worked in a related industry for some years. The amount of (justifiable) regulation is staggering.

The demand is there....and increasing, whether we like it or not. How are we going to supply it?