Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant To Close, Latest Symbol of Struggling Industry

The remaining nuclear reactor still operating at Three Mile Island in South-central Pennsylvania will shut down by September 30th, Exelon announced Wednesday. The decision to close the reactor comes 40 years after the nation's worse commercial nuclear accident. NPR reports: The company says the plant has been losing money for years. The nuclear industry generally has struggled to compete with less expensive electricity generated from natural gas and renewable energy. Exelon first announced it would close two years ago unless lawmakers stepped in to keep it open. It then campaigned to save the plant by seeking a subsidy from Pennsylvania's legislature. The company argued that, in light of climate change and efforts to address it, the plant deserves compensation for the carbon-free electricity it produces.

That argument has worked in other states, including Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. But in Pennsylvania, the state's powerful natural gas industry opposed it, along with industrial users and consumer advocates, calling the proposal a 'bailout.' When it became clear the subsidy legislation wouldn't pass within the next month Exelon decided to retire the plant, which was licensed to operate for 15 more years. Exelon says it will offer positions elsewhere in the company to employees who are willing to relocate. But the plant also employed thousands of contract workers during refueling and maintenance outages. On March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island Generating Station Unit 2 'suffered a partial meltdown after a pump stopped sending water to the stream generators that removed heat from the reactor core,' reports NPR. 'The accident was the start of a backlash against the nuclear industry that halted its growth for decades.'

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