Microsoft wants to buy a nuclear power plant to power its AI

According to a recent report, Microsoft is on the verge of a deal to acquire an old nuclear power plant. The powerhouse was shut down due to technical issues in the past, and Microsoft is now planning to restart it.

Why Microsoft wants to take over the nuclear power plant?

The Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant is located in Pennsylvania and is one of the closed nuclear power plants in the United States. This power plant has marked the country’s first nuclear disaster and in 1979 thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. Now the Washington Post reported that Microsoft is apparently planning to bring this power plant back into the energy supply cycle. According to the contract in question, Microsoft will have the exclusive right to use the electricity produced at the Three Mile Island power plant for 20 years and will acquire the license to use all its output capacity.

According to this report, Microsoft’s main motivation for buying a closed nuclear power plant with a not-so-glorious history is to provide the electricity needed for artificial intelligence-related processes. In recent months, the Bing service of this company has provided its users with various facilities based on artificial intelligence, which has increased the need for processing power and, subsequently, electricity. Experts believe that with the expansion of the use of video production services, the consumption power of data centers of large companies will make a significant leap and the need for energy in this sector will increase even more than in the past.

Microsoft has not yet officially agreed to buy the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and it needs to get the necessary permits from the US government to finalize this deal. If the Redmonds succeed in signing the contract, they will have the energy needed to supply electricity to 800,000 homes, which can significantly help to increase the processing power of this company’s artificial intelligence.

One of the units of the Three Mile Island power plant started working again after the 1979 accident and after a part of its core melted, but it was shut down again 5 years ago for economic reasons. If Microsoft can buy this plant, it will have access to a huge amount of electric power that does not emit carbon emissions in the production process. Also, with the agreement of the US government to sign such a contract, there is a possibility of a new wave of policies by big technology companies that want to have more electricity. It should be noted that there is no history of exclusive presentation of the output of a power plant in such dimensions until today and it can mark a different era in the energy industry.

How much does it cost to buy a nuclear power plant?

The annual profit figure of a nuclear power plant is approximately 470 million dollars, and its exclusive purchase for 20 years is about 9.4 billion dollars. Of course, restarting the power plant is relatively expensive, and the company that owns the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant must allocate 1.6 billion dollars to it. Taxes and legal fees will also be added to this figure, but in the end it will be more than 7 billion dollars in profit for Constellation. The company has promised to donate one million dollars in 5 years for participating in charity work to the areas around the power plant.

Despite all the incentives for the acquisition of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant by Microsoft, there are several legal obstacles in the way of this agreement. One of the most important permits required to restart a plant must be issued by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which to date has not approved any plant restarts. Also, the exclusive provision of electricity generated in the power plant to a private company will likely have its own tax rules. The approval of public opinion and the local community around the power plant should also be added to this equation; However, with the re-opening of the power plant, the capacity to hire 600 workers would be provided.