ROCKVILLE, Md. — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public meeting in Maryland to discuss plans for reopening Three Mile Island.
This comes after Constellation Energy, the owners of TMI Reactor 1, entered into a 20-year energy supply agreement with Microsoft.
During the meeting, the company said it would submit an application to change the name of the facility to the Crane Clean Energy Center. Company leaders also stated it would start turning in regulatory paperwork for the plant in November.
Constellation hopes to restart operations by 2027.
Public reaction to the presentation was mixed.
“Our skyline changed when the water vapor stopped coming out of the iconic cooling towers, and we look forward to the day when that returns," said Steve Aaron, a small business owner from Dauphin County.
“I think the public needs to know how much this is costing, and there should be another report on where the money is coming from," said Jan Boudard.
Regulators say Constellation Energy has a lot of ahead of their planned restart. Spokesperson Scott Burnell said the company will need to submit a quality assurance plan, environmental reports, and various license requests.
He said the company will also need to file an exemption request to operate the plant again.
“Back in 2019, they gave us a legal document saying they would never operate the plant again," said Burnell. "If they want to reverse that, they need an exemption from our rules to give them the ability to take back those representations."
The NRC says it will continuously monitor Constellation Energy as it works to implement its restart plan.
“Again, with the bottom line of making sure they meet our requirements so that the plant would operate safely if we say yes," said Burnell.
The agency will hold future meetings in Harrisburg to get more public input about restarting Three Mile Island.