Microsoft will use nuclear energy to train artificial intelligence
Microsoft announced today, Friday, that it has signed a deal to purchase all of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor’s output, to operate Microsoft’s data centers, with the primary goal of keeping up with the high energy demand for developing artificial intelligence.
This nuclear reactor is located on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, USA. There are two units inside this nuclear reactor. Unit 2 has a somewhat tragic story, as this unit of the reactor suffered a nuclear meltdown 45 years ago. The nuclear meltdown is so dangerous that it can leak harmful radioactive materials into the surrounding environment, but the situation was dealt with at the time and did not result in any deaths or significant radiation.
Unit 2 has been in the process of being decommissioned since the 1979 incident, while Unit 1 continued to operate well but was shut down in 2019 due to high operating costs. In early 2023, the new owner, Constellation Energy, was considering reactivating Unit 1, with Microsoft among the most interested.
Now Microsoft has reached an agreement with Constellation Energy that will allow it to exclusively purchase all of the reactor’s energy output, 835 megawatts, for 20 years. That’s a staggering amount, equivalent to the power consumed by 800,000 American homes! Constellation Energy will put the reactor into operation at a cost of $1.6 billion, and it is expected to start operating in 2028, if the necessary legal permits are obtained.
The move comes as Microsoft seeks to rely on clean energy, with Bobby Hollis, Microsoft's vice president of energy, saying in an interview, "Buying nuclear power will help Microsoft's plans to power its entire global network of data centers with clean energy by 2025."
Microsoft isn’t the only company looking to nuclear power as an alternative to the massive energy needs of AI data centers. Sam Altman, CEO of leading AI company OpenAI, has said he sees nuclear power as the answer. Altman has invested $375 million in private American company Helion Energy, which is building nuclear fusion reactors. Microsoft has signed a contract with Helion that will see Helion Energy supply 50 megawatts of power to Microsoft’s data centers by 2028.
On the other hand, Amazon last March purchased a nuclear-powered data center for $650 million, which is expected to provide 960 megawatts of energy.
Do you expect a similar accident to occur at the first unit of the Three Mile Reactor? And will nuclear energy be the future solution to all current energy problems?