Microsoft has introduced an power deal to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear energy plant on the Susquehanna River close to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Constellation Power, the plant’s present proprietor, is now set to deliver Unit 1 again on-line for Microsoft. That can contain investing $1.6 billion to revive the reactor by 2028.

Whereas particulars stay unknown, Microsoft reportedly supplied to purchase the plant’s output for 20 consecutive years. 

Three Mile Island is finest often called the positioning of essentially the most severe nuclear accident in US historical past. In 1979, a partial meltdown occurred in one in all its reactors, sparking public concern and mistrust in nuclear energy. 

The plant’s Unit 2 reactor, which melted down, was completely closed, however Unit 1 continued working till it was decommissioned in 2019 resulting from competitors from cheaper pure fuel. 

Microsoft says the deal can also be pushed by its carbon-negative pledge by 2030. Nuclear power is a zero-carbon energy supply, although there are ongoing controversies over radioactive waste administration.

Constellation Power’s CEO Joseph Dominguez was constructive concerning the transfer, stating, “This plant by no means ought to have been allowed to close down. It’s going to produce as a lot clear power as all the renewables [wind and solar] inbuilt Pennsylvania over the past 30 years.”

Constellation Power acknowledged that “Vital investments” have to be made within the plant, together with upgrading and renovating the “turbine, generator, primary energy transformer, and cooling and management techniques.”

The rising energy calls for of AI

Microsoft’s determination to faucet into nuclear energy reveals as soon as once more the staggering power necessities of AI and supporting information middle expertise.  

The corporate has been increasing its information facilities worldwide, with many of those services devoted to supporting AI workloads, together with the coaching and deployment of fashions that require huge quantities of computational energy.

Coaching giant AI fashions can eat hundreds of megawatt-hours (MWh) of electrical energy. 

Based on some sources, OpenAI’s GPT-3, as an illustration, required over 1,200 MWh to coach, which may energy tens of hundreds of properties for a day. 

Tons of, if not hundreds, of highly effective AI fashions are actively being skilled at anybody time at this time. AI fashions require energy not simply throughout coaching but additionally for day-to-day operations.

This surge in power demand from AI is a part of a broader development. The Worldwide Power Company (IEA) estimates that information facilities at the moment account for 1.3% of world electrical energy consumption, and that is set to rise considerably, with AI infrastructure driving a lot of the rise. 

By 2030, information facilities may eat as much as 8% of the world’s electrical energy, additional straining power grids already stretched skinny by growing reliance on digital companies and electrical autos.

Coal and nuclear to take up the slack

Whereas the concentrate on nuclear power highlights the tech business’s want for low-carbon options, AI’s demand for energy is remarkably respiration new life into coal. 

Based on a Bloomberg report from earlier within the 12 months, the fast enlargement of knowledge facilities is delaying the shutdown of coal vegetation throughout the US, defying the push for cleaner power sources.

In areas like Kansas Metropolis, for instance, the development of knowledge facilities and electrical car battery factories has compelled utility suppliers to halt plans to retire coal vegetation. 

Microsoft’s determination to energy its AI operations with nuclear power brings the broader dialog of AI sustainability into sharp focus. 

With the tech business’s development outpacing power provides, progressive options are wanted to bridge the hole between demand and manufacturing. OpenAI, for instance, has actively invested in Helion, a nuclear fusion undertaking set to return on-line quickly.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated on X, “If Helion works, it not solely is a possible method out of the local weather disaster however a path in direction of a a lot increased high quality of life. Have beloved being concerned for the final 7 years and excited to be investing extra.”

Regardless of its controversies, nuclear energy provides a reputable resolution to AI’s power calls for, notably in areas struggling to transition totally to renewable power.

However the stakes are excessive. Constructing and sustaining nuclear vegetation nonetheless requires immense sources, and nuclear waste is difficult to eliminate. Many will see this as trivializing decarbonization and renewable power methods. 

We should always say that that is nonetheless early days for the Microsoft-Constellation Eneergy deal.

Nonetheless, unique, personal offers like this are exceptionally uncommon, displaying how energy within the AI business hinges on energy within the literal sense.