Constellation Energy plans to use the government loan to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center nuclear plant, CNBC, citing the U.S. Department of Energy, reported this week.
The location of Crane sits on the same site as the Three Mile Island Unit 2 that partially melted down in a terrible accident in 1979.
The newer site, known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, ceased operations in 2019 after its owners struggled to compete with cheaper natural gas, the CNBC story said.
The nuclear plant is expected to become operational in 2027 to power a Microsoft data center.
Larry Behrens, of Power the Future, tells AFN bringing back the nuclear power plant is a good idea.
"We have an energy deficit right now in the United States," Behrens said. "The demand is growing for more and more energy, and we don't have the power plants that we've had in the past."
Over the last 15 years, Behrens advised, hundreds of fossil fuel-fired power plants have closed, most of them coal-fired plants. So wherever there is affordable, reliable energy, he thinks that is "absolutely the answer" to move forward.
Farther down in its story, CNBC said the Energy Department is also supporting the restart of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan with a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International. A third nuclear plant, located in Iowa, might receive a loan, too.
Asked about the safety of nuclear energy, and public concerns about another meltdown disaster, Behrens said the U.S. is better at safety than any other nation.
“I would encourage folks to look at all forms of energy, and look at the safety record of it, and see where we get the most bang for our buck,” he said.
There are currently 54 nuclear power plants in the U.S. with 93 operating reactors, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
