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the three mile island nuclear power plant in pennsylvania, usa, on may 30, 2017

according to reuters, microsoft and constellation energy recently announced an innovative cooperation plan to restart the unit 1 reactor of the three mile island nuclear power plant in pennsylvania to provide stable and climate-friendly power support for microsoft's expanding data centers. this move marks the technology industry's active exploration of the potential of nuclear energy as a clean energy source while seeking to meet the growing demand for electricity.

although nuclear power is seen as an energy solution that can both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure supply stability,meeting the surging power demands of data centers by building new or restarting nuclear reactors remains challenging.those challenges include stringent regulatory approvals, potential fuel supply issues and opposition from local and environmental groups.

joe dominguez, ceo of constellation energy, emphasized in a statement that nuclear energy is one of the few energy sources that can both meet the large-scale electricity needs of large technology companies and have climate-friendly characteristics. in contrast, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy are environmentally friendly but are greatly affected by weather conditions and cannot meet the requirements of continuous and stable power supply.

it is worth noting that this is not the first time that a technology giant has tried to use nuclear energy to support data center operations. in march this year, amazon announced a partnership with talen energy to purchase nuclear power for its data centers. in addition, industry sources revealed that more data center and nuclear power cooperation projects are in the works.

goldman sachs' forecast data shows that in the next seven years, the electricity consumption of us data centers is expected to grow significantly, requiring about 47 gigawatts of new power generation capacity. against this background, the cooperation between microsoft and constellation undoubtedly provides a new idea for alleviating the pressure on power supply.

however, the road to restarting the three mile island nuclear power plant is not an easy one. the nuclear power plant had a serious nuclear accident in 1979. although the unaffected unit 1 was restarted this time, the concerns of regulators and the public about its safety cannot be ignored. in addition, the restart plan needs to obtain a number of key licenses and solve the technical problems that may arise from the long-term idleness of equipment and infrastructure.

in addition, the u.s. nuclear power industry faces multiple challenges, including restrictions on the import of enriched uranium, complex nrc licensing procedures, and difficulties in raising funds, all of which may affect the speed of such projects.

despite this, the cooperation between microsoft and constellation is still seen as an important attempt at cross-border cooperation between the technology industry and the nuclear power sector. in the future, with the continuous advancement of technology and the gradual improvement of policies, nuclear energy is expected to play a more important role in key areas such as data centers. (author/han tianshu)

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