The recent news that Microsoft has made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant to run its AI data centers brings together two technologies that have each been described as having the potential for a “ nuclear-level catastrophe .”
Putting aside whether AI is mature enough to be feeding it with astronomical amounts of our energy supplies, powering it with renewable energy is critical for our energy future and safety.
Mark Jacobson, director of Stanford’s atmosphere and energy program, finds that “Every dollar spent on nuclear is one less dollar spent on clean renewable energy and one more dollar spent on making the world a comparatively dirtier and more dangerous place, because nuclear power and nuclear weapons go hand in hand.”
It is a fallacy to think that nuclear power is reasonable when compared with renewable energy sources. In fact, nuclear energy and its carcinogenic radioactive waste is the most dangerous and fiscally risky energy option.
The deal that Gov. Gavin Newsom and California State Legislature struck with Pacific Gas and Electric to extend the life of its last nuclear plant, the Diablo Nuclear Power Plant, will saddle California ratepayers with some of the highest electricity rates in the nation for years to come. Yet such rate increases are unnecessary thanks to the state’s rapid transition to renewable energy and an estimated 13,391 MW of battery storage — well above the 2,200 MW produced by Diablo Canyon’s reactors.