UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
Three Mile Island to shut down early
The infamous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in US history in 1979, is set to close.
The plant will shut permanently in 2019 according to its owner, Exelon, which says that the low cost of gas-fired electricity in the US has made nuclear unprofitable. The company has said that the plant was at risk of early retirement in the absence of any policy reforms to support nuclear power.
The plant failed to win support under the regional transmission operator PJM’s capacity auction in late May.
The 840 MW plant suffered a meltdown in March 1979 which did not result in any injuries but sparked protests against nuclear in the US. It currently supplies power for 800,000 homes and employs 675 members of staff.
Several nuclear reactors have shut in the US recently for economic reasons, and Three Mile Island will follow plants in California, Florida, Nebraska, Vermont and Wisconsin that have or will close before their licences expire.
Watts Bar 2 in Tennessee, which became operational late last year, is the first new reactor in the US to become commercially operational in two decades.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Subjects: Nuclear engineering, Electricity from nuclear fuel, Nuclear fuels, Jobs, Nuclear reactors
