DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
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Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#2Maybe someone can elaborate on this, since I know basically nothing about chemistry or nuclear physics; isn't Three Mile Island still completely irradiated and unsafe for humans to inhabit?
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#3How much would it cost to build a new reactor with comparable power output?
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#4Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#5Maybe someone can elaborate on this, since I know basically nothing about chemistry or nuclear physics; isn't Three Mile Island still completely irradiated and unsafe for humans to inhabit?
The article says the reactor they are bringing back on was active until as recently as 2019, so it's safe to say it's probably not uninhabitable.
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#6Maybe someone can elaborate on this, since I know basically nothing about chemistry or nuclear physics; isn't Three Mile Island still completely irradiated and unsafe for humans to inhabit?
Unit 2 is the reactor that melted down and it has been shut down ever since (and partially decommissioned). Unit 1, a separate reactor at the same site, was operated normally until 2019 when it was shut down due to high costs. It was originally scheduled to be decommissioned by 2079 (sic) but is now being brought back online.
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#7Maybe someone can elaborate on this, since I know basically nothing about chemistry or nuclear physics; isn't Three Mile Island still completely irradiated and unsafe for humans to inhabit?
The Wikipedia page makes it seem like it's been largely cleaned up for decades:
> In 1988, the NRC announced that, although it was possible to further decontaminate the Unit 2 site, the remaining radioactivity had been sufficiently contained as to pose no threat to public health and safety.
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#8I wonder what the legal basis of the loan is. Congress controls the money; what authorization does the executive branch have for loaning $1 billion?
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#9Maybe someone can elaborate on this, since I know basically nothing about chemistry or nuclear physics; isn't Three Mile Island still completely irradiated and unsafe for humans to inhabit?
Unit 2 is the reactor that melted down and it has been shut down ever since (and partially decommissioned). Unit 1, a separate reactor at the same site, was operated normally until 2019 when it was shut down due to high costs. It was originally scheduled to be decommissioned by 2079 (sic) but is now being brought back online.
If it wasn't profitable in 2019, why is profitable now? Because Microsoft is commiting to be a customer?
Re: DOE gives Microsoft partner $1B loan to restart Three Mile Island reactor
#10Maybe someone can elaborate on this, since I know basically nothing about chemistry or nuclear physics; isn't Three Mile Island still completely irradiated and unsafe for humans to inhabit?
The Wikipedia page makes it seem like it's been largely cleaned up for decades: > In 1988, the NRC announced that, although it was possible to further decontaminate the Unit 2 site, the remaining radioactivity had been sufficiently contained as to pose no threat to public health and safety. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident
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