The Department of Energy is lending up to $4.4 billion to support the restart of three shuttered nuclear plants: Michigan’s Palisades Power Plant, Pennsylvania’s Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island, and Iowa’s Duane Arnold Energy Center. The projects would restore 2.25 gigawatts of generation, an amount described as sufficient for roughly 2 million homes and businesses. The plants are being returned to service as electricity demand rises, including demand associated with data centers.
What it means
The three facilities closed before their operating licenses ended. Two of the restart projects have agreements with Big Tech companies for carbon-free electricity. The Trump administration is promoting nuclear generation for artificial intelligence and manufacturing power needs.
Holtec International, which bought Palisades after Entergy ended operations there in 2022, began loading nuclear fuel at the Michigan plant in August. Its power purchase agreements require service to begin by March 2027. The Biden administration approved a $1.5 billion loan for the Palisades restart in 2024.
NextEra Energy and Google are working toward an early 2029 restart of Duane Arnold. The Iowa plant began operating in 1975 and shut down in August 2020 after a derecho caused damage. Microsoft holds a power contract with the Crane Clean Energy Center, whose functioning reactor was closed by Exelon in 2019.
Key facts
- The Department of Energy is providing up to $4.4 billion in lending for three nuclear plant restarts.
- The projects would restore 2.25 gigawatts of electricity capacity.
- The restored generation could supply roughly 2 million homes and businesses.
- Palisades’ operating license expires in 2031, and its agreements require it to enter service by March 2027.
- The Biden administration approved a $1.5 billion Palisades restart loan in 2024.
- NextEra Energy and Google are targeting early 2029 for a Duane Arnold restart.
- Duane Arnold was scheduled for permanent closure in October 2020 and shut down in August 2020.
- The Three Mile Island site experienced the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979, which destroyed one reactor.
Source: ABC News, reporting on Department of Energy nuclear restart lending