ISTANBUL

The US Energy Department said it provided a $1 billion loan to the firm Constellation Energy Corp to restart its nuclear reactor, Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania that is under contract to supply power to data centers for Microsoft, according to an official statement.

The $1 billion loan will help finance the Crane Clean Energy Center, an 835 MW plant located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania.

Constellation Energy said it will spend $1.6 billion to restart the plant under a 20-year agreement with the tech giant last year. The project is expected to provide energy equivalent to 800,000 households.

“Constellation’s restart of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to Americans across the Mid-Atlantic region. It will also help ensure America has the energy it needs to grow its domestic manufacturing base and win the AI race," Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said.

The plant was shut down in 2019, and it is expected to resume operations in 2027.

Work is underway to repair the equipment the facility uses, including turbines, generators, main power transformers, and cooling and control systems.