HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday that it will loan $1 billion to help finance the restart of the nuclear power plant on Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island that is under contract to supply power to data centers for tech giant Microsoft.
The loan is in line with the priorities of President Donald Trump's administration, including bolstering nuclear power and artificial intelligence.
For Constellation Energy, which owns Three Mile Island's lone functioning nuclear power reactor, the federal loan will lower its financing cost to get the mothballed plant up and running again. The 835-megawatt reactor can power the equivalent of approximately 800,000 homes, the Department of Energy said.
The reactor had been out of operation for five years when Constellation Energy announced last year that it would spend $1.6 billion to restart it under a 20-year agreement with Microsoft to buy the power for its data centers.
Constellation Energy renamed the functioning unit the Crane Clean Energy Center as it works to restore equipment including the turbine, generator, main power transformer and cooling and control systems. It hopes to bring the plant back online in 2027.
The loan is being issued under an existing $250 billion energy infrastructure program initially authorized by Congress in 2022. Neither the department nor Constellation released terms of the loan.
The plant, on an island in the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg, was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident, in 1979. The accident destroyed one reactor, Unit 2, and left the plant with one functioning reactor, Unit 1.
In 2019, Constellation Energy's then-parent company Exelon shut down the functioning reactor, saying it was losing money and Pennsylvania lawmakers had refused to subsidize it to keep it running.
The plan to restart the reactor comes amid something of a renaissance for nuclear power, as policymakers are increasingly looking to it to shore up the nation's power supply, help avoid the worst effects of climate change and meet rising power demand driven by data centers.
Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter.
FILE - At Constellation's nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island, called the Crane Clean Energy Center, near Middletown, Pa., the cooling towers are reflected in the Susquehanna River at sunrise, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
DHARAMSALA, India (AP) — Aiden Markram helped South Africa avoid another unwanted batting record but couldn't prevent India winning a lopsided third Twenty20 match by seven wickets on Sunday.
Put into bat, South Africa rallied from 7-3 to 117 all out in 20 overs and India replied with 120-3 in 15.5 overs under the floodlights at Dharamsala to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
South Africa had looked in danger of scoring fewer runs than its series-opening 74, the team’s worst total in T20 cricket, before Markram’s defiant knock. The South Africa captain hit two sixes and six fours in his 46-ball innings before he was caught behind against pacer Arshdeep Singh (2-13 in four overs).
India made light work of the chase. Openers Abhishek Sharma (35 runs off 18 balls) and Shubman Gill took the hosts to 43-0 after 3.1 overs, the same stage at which South Africa was 7-3.
Sharma and Gill shared an opening stand of 60, which was ended by Markram running to catch Sharma off the bowling of Corbin Bosch. Gill was bowled by Marco Jansen for a run-a-ball 28.
Tilak Varma (26 not out) and Shivam Dube (10 not out) took India home in the latest twist in an unpredictable series. South Africa won the second T20 by 51 runs after losing the first match by 101 runs.
The fourth T20 is on Wednesday at Lucknow.
The series is in preparation for the T20 World Cup in India in February. India is the defending champion after beating South Africa in a gripping end to the final in 2024.
India won the ODI series against South Africa 2-1 after losing the test series 2-0.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
India's Harshit Rana celebrates the wicket of South Africa's Quinton de Kock during the third T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
South Africa's captain Aiden Markram plays a shot during the third T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
India's Tilak Varma plays a shot during the third T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
India's Shubman Gill, left, and Abhishek Sharma greets each other during the third T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
India's Arshdeep Singh, center, celebrates with teammates the wicket of South Africa's Reeza Hendricks during the third T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
