The Department of Energy on Tuesday closed on a $1 billion loan to restart a nuclear reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, the site of a partial nuclear meltdown in 1979.
The loan to Constellation Energy aims to help finance the Crane Clean Energy Center, a project launched last year and bolstered by a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft. In June, Constellation said the reactor will produce power as early as 2027.
The administration is aggressively promoting nuclear energy, including through a recently announced $80 billion “strategic partnership” with Westinghouse and other companies.
“The United States is taking unprecedented steps to lower energy costs and bring about the next American nuclear renaissance,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a statement. “Constellation’s restart of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to Americans across the Mid-Atlantic region. It will also help ensure America has the energy it needs to grow its domestic manufacturing base and win the AI race.”
