Three retired US nuclear plants are being brought back online with help from federal loans. Palisades in Michigan, the Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and Duane Arnold in Iowa would add about 2.25 GW of carbon-free power, enough for roughly 2 million homes. Two of the plants have long-term power purchase agreements with Google and Microsoft, which are paying a premium for reliable clean energy to run data centers. The restarts are a test of whether existing nuclear infrastructure can be revived faster and cheaper than building new reactors. Palisades is the furthest along, with a target of March 2027, though fuel loading was paused after an equipment issue. The Energy Department has committed up to $4.4 billion in loans across the three projects. Not everyone supports the approach. Safety experts point to climate risks at plants built decades ago, and critics question whether taxpayer dollars should back projects with private buyers. The outcome will matter for grid decarbonization, data center power procurement, and the future of nuclear in the US energy mix.
