The partial meltdown at the reactor in 1979 undermined support for nuclear power in America, and no new plants have been completed since
Three Mile Island, site of the United States’ worst nuclear power accident, will begin a planned shutdown starting June 1 now that it is clear that it will not get a financial rescue from Pennsylvania, its owner said Wednesday.
Exelon Corp.’s statement comes two years after the Chicago-based energy giant threatened to close the money-losing plant without what critics have called a bailout.
The fight over Three Mile Island and Pennsylvania’s four other nuclear power plants invigorated a debate over the “zero carbon emissions” characteristics of nuclear power in the age of global warming and in one of the nation’s largest fossil fuel-producing states.
Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 is licensed to operate through 2034, and shutting it down will cut its life short by 15 years.
Marc Levy – National Post May 8, 2019.