Three Mile Island & Co

How the AI boom is also boosting nuclear power

Scene of the most dangerous nuclear accident in US history, in future the exclusive energy supplier for Microsoft: the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant(Bild: Lee - stock.adobe.com)

It was the scene of the worst nuclear accident on US soil: A partial core meltdown occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the state of Pennsylvania in 1979, narrowly missing a catastrophe. The nuclear power plant was taken off the grid in 2019. Now it is being restarted - for just one customer.

It was four o'clock in the morning on March 28, 1979 when the first malfunctions occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The reactor cooling pumps failed, and after the emergency shutdown was quickly initiated, the secondary cooling system was supposed to remove the residual decay heat from the reactor. But this also failed - after a test a few days earlier, the valves had not been reopened. During the partial core meltdown, large quantities of radioactive gas escaped into the atmosphere and tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated from the area surrounding the nuclear power plant. Despite the incident, Three Mile Island was supposed to remain in operation until 2019 before the nuclear power plant was decommissioned, much to the relief of many. Instead of being decommissioned, however, Three Mile Island is now being put back into operation - for Microsoft. Not the only IT company in an AI frenzy for nuclear power ...