Three Mile Island will shut down for good in 2019 – 40 years after it became the site of the worst nuclear accident in US history, the energy company that runs the infamous plant announced Tuesday.
The beleaguered power plant in Middletown, Pa., has faced losses for the past five years as a result of low natural gas prices and the boom of the Northeast’s Marcellus Shale reservoir, according to its owner, Exelon Corp.
“Today is a difficult day, not just for the 675 talented men and women who have dedicated themselves to operating Three Mile Island safely and reliably every day, but also for their families, the communities and customers who depend on this plant to produce clean energy and support local jobs,” said Chris Crane, Exelon president and CEO, in a statement.
Three Mile Island suffered a partial meltdown in 1979, which released “significant” radiation into the air and sparked mass chaos, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
No one died in the accident.
A federal review found minimal health effects in the two million people living near the central Pennsylvania plant, which produces enough electricity to power 800,000 homes.
Three Mile Island recently failed in an auction to sell its power into a regional grid and has been struggling to compete with low natural gas prices for years.
Exelon has accused Pennsylvania of failing to include nuclear energy in its alternative energy plans, even though it provides emissions-free electricity that fights climate change.
The Chicago-based company, which pays more than $1 million in property taxes a year, said it would close Sept. 30, 2019 unless Pennsylvania adopts rules to compensate it for benefits it says nuclear power provides – a policy that’s already in place in New York and Illinois.
“Like New York and Illinois before it, the commonwealth has an opportunity to take a leadership role by implementing a policy solution to preserve its nuclear energy facilities and the clean, reliable energy and good-paying jobs they provide,” said Crane.
The nuclear industry has been gutted in recent years. Six reactors have been shut down since 2013 in California, Florida, Nebraska, Vermont and Wisconsin and there are plans to close six more over the next five years.
With Post Wires