U.S. to revive shuttered nuclear plants to meet growing electricity demand
The U.S. Department of Energy is providing up to $4.4 billion in loans to help restart three shuttered nuclear plants in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Iowa, partly to meet electricity demand from data centers. Microsoft and Google have signed or are pursuing long-term power agreements tied to the Crane Clean Energy Center and Duane Arnold Energy Center, while safety and taxpayer-cost concerns remain.
The federal government is backing efforts to restart the Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, the Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and Iowa’s Duane Arnold Energy Center. Together, the facilities could restore about 2.25 gigawatts of generation, with the Department of Energy offering as much as $4.4 billion in financing. The projects are being promoted as a faster alternative to building new reactors and as a way to support rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.
Constellation Energy plans to restart the Pennsylvania reactor under a 20-year agreement with Microsoft, while NextEra Energy and Google are collaborating on a planned restart of Duane Arnold by early 2029. Holtec International is working to restart Palisades, whose fuel-loading process was paused after a fuel assembly tilted. Supporters say the projects will strengthen grid reliability and preserve nuclear jobs, while critics including Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Jack Spencer of the Heritage Foundation question the safety risks and use of taxpayer funds.