The United States is making an unprecedented attempt to revive three shuttered nuclear plants to meet rising energy demand, including from large-scale data centers.
asserted
States → make → centers
No commercial nuclear reactor is known to have resumed generating electricity after beginning the decommissioning process that takes one out of service, though some reactors have restarted after long outages.
asserted
reactors → know → outages
The Department of Energy is lending as much as $4.4 billion to restart the Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, the Crane Clean Energy Center on Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island and the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa to restore a combined 2.25 gigawatts of electricity, which can power roughly 2 million homes and businesses.
asserted
which → lend → homes
All three of the plants closed before their licenses expired, largely because the electricity they produced was considered too expensive.
asserted
they → close → plants
Two of the plants have contracts with Big Tech companies that will pay a premium to get large amounts of carbon-free energy for data centers.
asserted
that → have → centers
The Trump administration is pushing hard to deploy nuclear power for artificial intelligence and manufacturing.
asserted
administration → push → intelligence
It's also lending billions of dollars for upgrades to produce more electricity from currently operating nuclear plants.
asserted
It → lend → plants
Restarting a reactor is a fairly quick way to get a lot of electricity, and it's cheaper than building a new, large reactor, said nuclear engineering expert Todd Allen.
asserted
Allen → restart → reactor
“There's a demand in the country for more power,” he said.
asserted
he → be → power
“You have these assets that were previously hooked up.
asserted
that → have → assets
They were previously operable, and you can relatively quickly get them generating electricity again, compared to your other possibilities.
asserted
them → get → possibilities
For anyone who wants zero carbon, nuclear provides that.
asserted
nuclear → want → that
For the Trump administration, which really wants nuclear, this fits that story also.”
asserted
this → want → story
Restarting a reactor is kind of like restoring a car
Allen compared restarting a decommissioned nuclear plant to restarting a car that sat idle for a few years.
asserted
that → restart → years
The driver still needs a valid license and all the parts need to be working correctly.
asserted
parts → need → license
“That’s what they’re trying to do with these nuclear plants, but it’s a much bigger, complicated system,” said Allen, associate dean for research at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering.
asserted
Allen → ’ → Engineering
With a nuclear plant, the owner has to bring nuclear workers back and ensure their training is current, make sure everything is working and that maintenance is up to date, ensure they have enough fuel and ask regulators to restore their operating license, he added.
asserted
he → have → license
Allen said it's a lot to keep track of, but it's relatively straightforward.
asserted
it → say → track
Expert says restarts are risky
Edwin Lyman, at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the taxpayer money being used should go toward addressing safety risks.
asserted
money → say → risks
For example, most U.S. plants were built between 1970 and 1990 and were designed to withstand natural disasters of that era, said Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at UCS.
asserted
Lyman → build → UCS
But climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and severe.
asserted
events → make → ?
“It’s possible, if they set the right level of safety and spend the necessary funds to meet that, they could restore these plants to operable condition,” he said.
uncertain
he → ’ → condition
“That's not happening at this point.”
asserted
That → happen → point
Iowa’s only nuclear facility, Duane Arnold, began operating in 1975.
asserted
facility → operate → 1975
It was scheduled to permanently close in October 2020.
asserted
It → schedule → October
Replacing it with cheaper energy sources, including wind, was projected to save Iowa customers $300 million in energy costs.
asserted
Replacing → replace → costs
The plant shut down early, in August 2020, when it was damaged during a powerful storm known as a derecho.
asserted
it → shut → derecho
NextEra Energy owns Duane Arnold.
asserted
Energy → own → Arnold
Looking at its condition, CEO John Ketchum said company officials “felt really good about the ability to bring it back.”
asserted
officials → look → it
Palisades plant is the furthest along
The Palisades plant operated from 1971 until 2022, when its owner, Entergy, left the nuclear power business.
asserted
owner → operate → business
The plant's operating license lasted until 2031.
asserted
license → last → 2031
Holtec International bought it and began dismantling it, though none of the steps were irreversible.
asserted
none → buy → steps
Michigan officials, not wanting to lose nuclear jobs or energy, encouraged Holtec to pursue reopening the plant and provided state funding.
asserted
officials → want → funding
The Biden administration in 2024 approved a $1.5 billion loan to restart the facility, and the Trump administration continued the payments.
asserted
administration → approve → payments
In August, Holtec began loading nuclear fuel, one of the final major phases before a reactor can restart.
asserted
reactor → begin → phases
The company paused the process after a fuel assembly tilted from its upright position and Holtec determined it needed to figure out why.
asserted
it → pause → position
power purchase agreements require Palisades to be in service by March 2027.
asserted
Palisades → require → March
Holtec says its efforts will restore baseload power, strengthen energy security and demonstrate the role of nuclear energy in meeting the nation's growing electricity demands.
asserted
efforts → say → demands
Big Tech will purchase power for data centers
NextEra Energy and Google are collaborating to restart Duane Arnold by early 2029.
asserted
Energy → purchase → 2029
“This is a perfect example of data centers paying their own way,” Ketchum said in an interview.
asserted
Ketchum → pay → interview
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
