US is reviving shuttered nuclear plants to meet growing electricity demand and to power data centers

The federal government is providing as much as $4.4 billion to help restart three nuclear plants that closed before their operating licenses expired: the Palisades plant in Michigan, the Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island near Middletown, Pennsylvania, and the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo, Iowa. The effort is intended to address rising electricity demand, particularly from large-scale data centers.

The plants were shut down largely because their power was considered too expensive, and no commercial reactor is known to have resumed operations after entering the decommissioning process. Constellation operates the former Three Mile Island facility, while two of the plants have agreements to provide power to data centers. The Trump administration is promoting nuclear energy as part of its strategy to expand electricity generation.