Friday, 06 Dec On this day ...
President Carter tours the control room of the Three Mile Island plant 4 days after the accident, Middletown, PA, April 1, 1979. AP // Rusty Kennedy
Q1. Constellation Energy will revive the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island, the central PA site of the country's worst nuclear power accident. The plant's Unit 2 reactor was shut down after a partial core meltdown in 1979, which led to nearly a week of panic.
Unit 1, which sits next to Unit 2 and was undamaged, continued to operate until 2019, when it was closed for economic reasons. It was one of fifteen US nuclear reactors shuttered since 2013 due to expected slack demand for power, leaving 93 still in operation. However in the past two years, forecast power use spiked due to the anticipated needs of artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, increased domestic manufacturing, and cryptocurrency.
For which uses do you approve of the reopening of Unit 1 at Three Mile Island? (check all that apply)
Unit 1, which sits next to Unit 2 and was undamaged, continued to operate until 2019, when it was closed for economic reasons. It was one of fifteen US nuclear reactors shuttered since 2013 due to expected slack demand for power, leaving 93 still in operation. However in the past two years, forecast power use spiked due to the anticipated needs of artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, increased domestic manufacturing, and cryptocurrency.
For which uses do you approve of the reopening of Unit 1 at Three Mile Island? (check all that apply)
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+
Artificial intelligence
27%
41%
13%
28%
33%
24%
33%
28%
22%
28%
Electric vehicles
47%
52%
42%
24%
56%
67%
62%
54%
38%
42%
Domestic manufacturing
75%
86%
65%
78%
81%
71%
75%
80%
75%
71%
Cryptocurrencies
14%
25%
4%
20%
22%
6%
20%
19%
11%
9%
None of these
16%
8%
24%
14%
11%
20%
15%
11%
18%
22%
Don't know
5%
1%
8%
4%
6%
6%
1%
8%
5%
4%
Don't care
3%
4%
1%
4%
3%
1%
9%
0%
2%
1%
Q2. Constellation will spend $1.6b to restart the 835-megawatt (enough to power 800k homes) Unit 1 reactor by 2028, and Microsoft has signed an agreement to buy all its output for the next 20-years to help meet the needs of its data centers.
Currently data centers make up 2% of the annual US power consumption, but that is expected to rise to 9% by 2030 with the adoption of AI.
How important is it to you that the new power needs are met with carbon-free sources, and do you think that will happen?
Currently data centers make up 2% of the annual US power consumption, but that is expected to rise to 9% by 2030 with the adoption of AI.
How important is it to you that the new power needs are met with carbon-free sources, and do you think that will happen?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+
Important, will happen
40%
44%
38%
22%
41%
59%
56%
28%
37%
50%
Important, won't happen
24%
16%
32%
13%
36%
32%
26%
28%
21%
23%
Not important, will happen
11%
15%
8%
21%
10%
2%
1%
11%
16%
10%
Not important, won't happen
19%
25%
14%
38%
8%
2%
15%
28%
18%
13%
Don't know
4%
1%
7%
4%
4%
4%
1%
4%
6%
4%
Don't care
1%
0%
2%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
2%
1%
Q3. Microsoft also signed a first-of-its-kind contract with Constellation for fusion energy, betting it might be deliverable this decade.
Fusion power, which occurs when two isotopes of hydrogen merge to form helium, has long been a dream for scientists, power providers, and governments around the world — if it could be harnessed it would be a cheap, clean, and virtually unlimited source of power.
Do you think fusion power will be available for commercial use in the US before 2050?
Fusion power, which occurs when two isotopes of hydrogen merge to form helium, has long been a dream for scientists, power providers, and governments around the world — if it could be harnessed it would be a cheap, clean, and virtually unlimited source of power.
Do you think fusion power will be available for commercial use in the US before 2050?
male
female
rep
ind
dem
18-29
30-44
45-64
65+
Yes
49%
48%
50%
41%
44%
57%
46%
40%
50%
60%
No
30%
33%
28%
39%
28%
22%
36%
39%
26%
22%
Don't know
20%
18%
21%
18%
27%
20%
18%
18%
23%
18%
Don't care
1%
1%
1%
2%
0%
0%
0%
2%
1%
0%
February 2024, 63% approved a $1.5bb loan the Biden Administriation OK'd to restart the Palisades nuclear reactor in Michigan. Three Mile Island Unit 1 will be the 2nd restart of a shuttered nuclear reactor in the US.
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