Constellation Advances Proposed Three Mile Island Restart

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last week, Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) (Baltimore, Maryland) said the proposed restart of one of the reactors of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania is moving along ahead of schedule, although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has yet to officially approve the effort.

Constellation operates the U.S.' largest fleet of carbon-free nuclear power plants.

The company is looking to restart Three Mile Island's Unit 1, which was retired in 2019--primarily due to economic reasons--and plans to rename the facility the Crane Clean Energy Center.

Unit 2 at the plant suffered a partial meltdown in 1979, although Unit 1 was not affected and operated optimally before being shut down five years ago.

"Every new milestone confirms our belief that the Crane Clean Energy Center can be returned to service better than ever, restoring 835 megawatts of carbon-free energy to the regional grid..." said Joe Dominguez, president and chief executive officer of Constellation in a press release.

"Major maintenance and upgrades are proceeding ahead of plan, new equipment has been ordered, and we are making tremendous progress on hiring and training the next generation of skilled workers to operate the plant at world class levels of safety and performance, just as before."

Constellation said one of the largest new equipment purchases is for construction of three new main power transformers and the contract has been awarded. That will require an additional $35 million investment, the company said, to ensure they arrive in 2026.

Constellation estimated last year the Crane project would require about $1.6 billion of cash from operations for capital expenditures necessary to restart the plant, with an estimated in-service date of 2028.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can click here to read a detailed report on the proposed restart project and here for a related plant profile.

The company said last week it had filed an interconnection request with regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection LLC to add the Crane Clean Energy Center's 835 megawatts of nuclear generation to the grid.

In September, Constellation signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to provide Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) with power from the restarted Unit 1.

Constellation is in the process of filing all the required licensing and regulatory documents with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has the ultimate authority to approve the restart.

In the company's fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings report last week, Chief Financial Officer Dan Eggers said the company will invest more than $2.5 billion in capital expenditures in 2025.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of Constellation's nuclear plants.

Earlier this month, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an order aimed at promoting Trump's "energy dominance" agenda, which included nuclear energy.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).