Those from Pennsylvania will probably recognize any mention of Three Mile Island, and older populations may even shudder at the name. These reactions, however, may look a little different — particularly to a more severe degree — if it is revealed that Three Mile Island could be restored to its prior output of energy generation.
So, what was Three Mile Island? The Three Mile Island was a nuclear power station made up of two reactor cores situated on an island by the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, PA. However, its actual claim to fame originates from the reactor accident that occurred there in 1979, leading to the shutdown of the power plant and beginning the decades-long U.S. insecurity concerning nuclear energy alternatives.
On March 28, 1979, there was a malfunction with the cooling apparatuses connected to the Unit Two reactor, inducing a mild reactor core meltdown. The result was an unintentional diffusion of an inert gas and radioactive iodine gas into the atmosphere, but the amount was minimal. Nearby Pennsylvanians who stayed put during the optional evacuation experienced less than one percent of the radiation exposure needed to even slightly increase the risk for cancer. Although the event itself was only a mild accident, it is known as the worst nuclear power plant accident in U.S. history.
As a result, seven other nuclear reactors in the U.S. were immediately shut down, while the unit that malfunctioned at Three Mile Island was permanently shut down because it was beyond repair. The other unit was operational again in 1985, but was then shut down in 2019 from an insufficiency of funds.
The Three Mile Island accident had a staggering and enduring impact on the nuclear energy industry in the U.S., and the Chernobyl accident seven years later, which was rated at the maximum severity of nuclear accidents, did nothing but make matters worse. From 1980 to 1984, 52 nuclear reactor construction plans were canceled. It wasn’t until 2012 that a new nuclear reactor plan was approved.
Conversely, today there are a total of 93 operating nuclear reactors dispersed between 54 power plants. Under the guidance of the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Congress has allocated billions of dollars to supporting the construction and repair of nuclear power plants. The Energy Department has been shuffling through loan requests totaling 65 billion dollars from companies hoping to take advantage of these newly released funds.
“Today there are a total of 93 operating nuclear reactors dispersed between 54 power plants.”
Recently, The Energy Department approved an appeal for a loan of 1.52 billion dollars from Holtec International to bring a power plant in Covert Township, Michigan back into operation. Nurtured by encouragement from the executive office, nuclear energy seems to be resurging as an important bearer of clean energy. This progress is further supported by a predicted 15% increase in electricity demand in the coming years with the advent of electric vehicles and a boom in the battery industry.
In a similar way, Constellation Energy Corporation plans to restart the remaining nuclear reactor, Unit One, on Three Mile Island in order to sell electricity to Microsoft to sustain its new, energy-expensive data centers needed for AI expansion. This plan is set to come to fruition by 2028.
Although horrific, unfortunate accidents with nuclear reactors have imparted a peculiar distaste for nuclear energy in the public, the method has been generating renewable energy since the 1950s. For instance, nuclear energy accounts for nine percent of the world’s electricity needs, making this energy source incredibly valuable. Now, with the Energy Department reviewing and accepting loan applications for the construction of nuclear core reactors, we could be moving away from our current reliance on the environmentally destructive use of fossil fuels for generating electricity.
