The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given permission for new reactor fuel to be stored at Three Mile Island Unit 1, a plant that was shut down in 2019 but is seeking to return to the power grid.
In a social media post on Friday, the NRC explained the decision amid efforts from Constellation Energy to restart the reactor.
“The fresh fuel will stay safely stored on site while we review Constellation’s request to restart the plant,” the NRC's update read.
The announcement comes as artificial intelligence continues to put strains on the US energy grid, prompting renewed interest in nuclear energy.
The restart of the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor near Londonderry Township, Pennsylvania – now named Crane Clean Energy Centre – is rooted in the AI boom.
But the NRC's move is not without controversy, as the site carries significant historical stigma.
The plan to restart the plant is the result of a 2024 announcement of a partnership between Constellation and Microsoft. As part of the deal, Microsoft agreed to a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation to help provide energy for its data centres.
The agreement made international headlines, however, because TMI Unit 1 is adjacent to TMI Unit 2, the site of one of the largest nuclear accidents in US history.
In late March 1979, the core of TMI Unit 2 was partially exposed, prompting a temporary evacuation of the nearby area and a lengthy clean-up around Middletown that continues to this day.
As for TMI Unit 1, it was operational until 2019, when the economics of nuclear power at the time forced its closure.
“The global shift towards AI is reshaping economies, accelerating innovation, and becoming foundational to how technology is built and used,” Microsoft's 2026 environmental sustainability report read.
“It is also increasing demand for the energy, water, land and materials required to support that growth. The facility offers a model for evaluating how conventional fission could support Microsoft’s long-term carbon free energy portfolio.”
Although public sentiment towards nuclear energy has improved in recent decades, worries about safety are still prevalent, especially at the TMI site.
Eric Epstein, who lives near the site of the TMI reactor and serves as director of Three Mile Island Alert, a grass roots energy safety organisation, said the recent fuel storage developments confirm his scepticism about the NRC.
“This announcement further demonstrates that the licensing process is taking place at the intersection of the inane and the insane,” he told The National.
Mr Epstein has previously criticised the NRC and accused it of being more of a cheerleader than a regulator.
“It underscores the farce being played out at Three Mile Island,” he said. “Who pays and stores fuel thinking the licence may not be approved? It's a done deal.”
Meanwhile, the NRC has announced several reforms and reorganisations in recent months, while at the same time hitting back against critics like Mr Epstein who have said that the commission has essentially turned into a rubber stamp for the nuclear industry.
The NRC has said it will continue “safely enabling nuclear technologies, including consideration of the Crane restart project” – indicating it is not, in fact, a done deal.
Constellation Energy, however, seems optimistic.
“Crane Clean Energy Centre is surging forward,” an Instagram post on the nuclear plant's account read, citing a recent waiver granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that would make it easier for the reactor to reconnect to the US grid.
The post said that if Constellation was successful in meeting the NRC's safety requirements, TMI Unit 1 could be “on track to restart in 2027".
