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U.S. nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen, sell power to Microsoft
U.S. nuclear plant Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear accident in American history, is to restart operations in a deal to sell power to Microsoft, Constellation Energy said Friday.
The firm announced the 20-year deal would involve the restart of the Unit 1 reactor, “which operated at industry-leading levels of safety and reliability for decades before being shut down for economic reasons exactly five years ago today.”
Microsoft will buy energy from the plant as part of its goal to help match the power its data centers use with carbon-free technology, according to a news release announcing the deal. The reactor is expected to be online in 2028, pending approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
An economic impact study commissioned by the Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council found that reopening the plant will create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs, according to the news release. It would also add up to 837 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to the power grid that can power more than 800,000 average homes.
The plant’s restart will also add $16 billion to the state’s GDP and generate more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes, according to the report.
The Unit 1 reactor was not involved in the 1979 partial nuclear meltdown at the site in Pennsylvania. “Significant investments” are being made to restore the reactor, including updating its turbine, generator, cooling and control systems and main power transformer, according to the news release.
The plant will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, in honor of former Constellation Energy CEO Chris Crane, who died in April.
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Mark Robinson, North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate, treated for burns, campaign says
Embattled Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — whose gubernatorial bid has been rattled by allegations that he previously posted racist and sexually explicit comments online — was hospitalized with burns Friday, his campaign said.
Mike Lonergan, a campaign spokesperson, told CBS News in a statement late Friday night that the 56-year-old Robinson was “currently being treated for burns following an incident at a campaign event in Mt. Airy.”
Lonergan added that Robinson was in “good spirits,” but did not provide any further details on his condition or the circumstances that prompted.
A source close to the campaign told CBS News that Robinson had been hospitalized.
This follows a bombshell CNN report last week which found that Robinson posted inappropriate comments to the message board of a pornographic website between 2008 and 2012, often under the name of “black NAZI.”
Since the report’s publication on Sept. 19, Robinson has seen several campaign staffers resign, including his campaign manager, general consultant and senior adviser, finance director, and deputy campaign manager. He has also appeared to lose support among the Republican leadership.
Robinson has not appeared in the two North Carolina rallies Trump has held since the CNN report. And when asked Thursday by reporters if he would pull his endorsement for Robinson, Trump responded, “I don’t know the situation.”
When asked Tuesday if Republicans should halt support for Robinson’s campaign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded, “It won’t surprise to you know I’m happy that there’s not a Senate race in North Carolina.”
Robinson, however, has so far vowed to stay in the race.
“This is an election about policies, not personalities,” he wrote on social media Wednesday. “Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense.”
Kaia Hubbard and
contributed to this report.
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