The Duane Arnold nuclear plant, located northwest of Cedar Rapids in Iowa, is moving forward with efforts to reopen by the late 2020s after it closed in 2020 due to financial challenges.
Nuclear Comeback
The plant is the third--and probably the last--U.S. nuclear reactor that is still in good enough condition for a restart, according to CNBC.
The facility is following in the footsteps of two other reactors, Palisades in Michigan and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, which are also on track to resume operation in the next few years, provided they get approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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Recently, NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) the plant's owner, received clearance from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reconnect Duane Arnold to the electric grid, and is targeting a return to service as early as late 2028.
A spokesperson from NextEra described the FERC decision as a positive step, although considerable work remains to get the plant running again.
Restarting the plant will be expensive--NextEra expects to invest up to $100 million in 2025 alone. Efforts are underway to order new transformers and rebuild essential facilities like the cooling towers, administration and training buildings, all of which were previously dismantled.
Nuclear Power & Big Tech
The push to bring Duane Arnold back online is happening as major tech companies seek more nuclear energy to power their increasingly energy-intensive data centers, used for artificial intelligence development.
NextEra is hoping to secure a long-term power purchase agreement to support the restart, similar to how Three Mile Island's restart is being financed through a partnership with Microsoft.
"If we're successful in bringing Duane forward, that obviously creates a hot bed of data center activity around that facility," NextEra CEO John Ketchum said on the company's earnings call.
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