Federal regulators hear from the community about planned Three Mile Island restart

Constellation Energy is working to reopen the nuclear facility by 2027 to power data centers for Microsoft.

BY: IAN KARBAL - JULY 31, 2025 11:10 PM

 Constellation Energy plans to restart Unit 1 of the former Three Mile Island nuclear power plant as the Crane Clean Energy Center. (Capital-Star/Peter Hall)

On Thursday, community members had the chance to voice their hopes and concerns about the planned reopening of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. 

More than 100 people attended a public meeting held by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at the Penn State Harrisburg campus near Middletown, less than five miles from the now-decommissioned reactor.

“Tonight, the reason we’re here is transparency and communication with the public,” said Jamie Pelton, acting director of the Division of Operating Reactor Licensing.

With increased energy demands, due largely to a construction boom of power-hungry data centers driven by advances in artificial intelligence, Constellation Energy is working to reopen the nuclear facility — renamed Crane Clean Energy Center — by 2027. That’s a year earlier than initially expected.

It is slated to power data centers for Microsoft. An agreement reached between the tech company and Constellation is reported to last 20 years, could create around 3,400 jobs and bring $3 billion in state and federal taxes.

It will also be one of the first shuttered nuclear plants in the United States to reopen, along with another plant in Palisades, Michigan.

Attendees offered polarized views, with some concerned about the potential of another failure like the one in 1979, or the impacts on the environment and public health. Others were hopeful that reopening the reactor could bring much-needed jobs and stimulate the economy in Londonderry Township and surrounding communities in Dauphin County. Each person was allowed around two minutes to speak.

One of Three Mile Island’s two reactors partially melted down in 1979. That accident captivated the country and changed the course of the nuclear energy industry in the United States. No injuries or deaths were reported to have resulted from the accident. But some attendees at the meeting recalled what is why like during the crisis.

“I had a metallic taste in my mouth, and so did so many other people,” said Maria Frisby, 61, who lives in Middletown. “How are you going to prevent all of that from occurring again?”

The site’s other reactor continued operating until 2019 when it was shut down by Constellation Energy, the site’s owner, which deemed it more expensive to operate than it was worth. 

Mark Rodgers, a spokesperson for Constellation, said in a statement to the Capital-Star that the reactor that operated until 2019 “was one of the highest performing and safest nuclear reactors in the country until we had to prematurely retire the unit in 2019 due to market conditions.”

“Microsoft is enabling us to make the investment to restart the unit as the Crane Clean Energy Center, bringing back over 600 jobs and putting over 800 megawatts of clean, emissions free power back onto the grid where it will go into the homes, businesses, schools and hospitals throughout the region,” he added.

But despite the site’s history, many people supported its reopening.

“I stand before you in support of a responsible restart of the Crane Clean Energy Center,” said Jim Enders, president of the Central Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council. “We’ve safely built and continue to maintain other nuclear facilities throughout the east coast and the Midwest, and we’re ready, willing and able to bring Crane back online in a safe manner. It’s time to turn the page.”

Others welcomed the impact new jobs and workers could have on the community.

“Middletown’s historic downtown is just minutes from the plant, and it has numerous small businesses that thrived over many years from the customers from the island,” said Ellen Willenbecher, vice president of the Middletown Borough council. “For some families who had to leave Middletown when the Island closed, they’re moving home. Local businesses will welcome back old and new customers.”

But the plan had detractors as well.

Patricia Longenecker, who lives near the plant, raised concerns about the project’s environmental impact, and what it would mean to operate a reactor dependent on the Susquehanna River in an era of increased doubt and flood risk due to climate change. 

“My comments come from being a steward of Lancaster County farmland, with my family going back 200 years,” she said. “Last October, our area experienced a severe drought. One could walk across the river south of Three Mile Island on rocks. Where would 100 million gallons of water per day needed to operate the plant have been secured?”

The Capital-Star could not verify the amount of water required to operate the plant.

Maureen Mulligan, who lives in Lebanon, was particularly concerned about how the NRC, or any other group, could ensure safety amid President Donald Trump’s push to slash the federal workforce and deregulate the energy industry.

“There is a lot of pressure on the NRC to race to permit nuclear plants to enable these humungous, energy hogging AI plants to get built,” she said. “Our community, which has experienced the worst [nuclear] accident in U.S. history, deserves to be protected, and the NRC will have to earn our confidence back.”

In June, the Trump administration fired one of the five NRC commissioners. The move followed an executive order calling for “reform” of the independent commission, a “wholesale revision of its regulations,” and for the body to facilitate the expansion of the nation’s nuclear capacity.

Larry Arnold, 76, who also remembers the 1979 accident, put it more bluntly.

“What happens when the current administration decides it doesn’t like what the NRC is doing, and cuts staff and budget?” he said. “What will you be doing then and how will we be protected?”

Arnold also raised concerns about evacuation plans, which will be created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has recently had its funding slashed.

“We did not have a realistic evacuation plan on March 28, 1979,” he said. 

Other speakers raised concerns specifically about the feasibility of evacuating nearby hospitals and senior centers.  

The NRC panelists said another virtual public meeting will be held on August 6 at 4:00 p.m. Information can be found on their public meeting schedule.