Washington: The US Energy Department announced it has provided a $1 billion loan to Constellation Energy Corp to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania. This facility is under contract to supply power to Microsoft's data centers, as revealed in an official statement.

According to Anadolu Agency, the $1 billion loan is intended to finance the Crane Clean Energy Center, an 835 MW plant situated on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania. Constellation Energy plans to invest $1.6 billion to restart the plant, following a 20-year agreement with Microsoft established last year. This project is set to generate energy sufficient for 800,000 households.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright commented, "Constellation's restart of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to Americans across the Mid-Atlantic region. It will also help ensure America has the energy it needs to grow its domestic manufacturing base and win the AI race."

The plant, which ceased operations in 2019, is scheduled to resume operations in 2027. Current efforts are focused on repairing essential equipment, including turbines, generators, main power transformers, and cooling and control systems.