*

Reactor shut in 2019, Constellation wants to restart in

2027

*

First U.S. LPO loan issued and closed at same time,

official

says

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Loan office has $250 billion, focused on large-scale

reactor

development

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Trump administration

said on Tuesday it has loaned Constellation Energy Corp ( CEG )

$1 billion to restart its nuclear reactor at a Pennsylvania

plant formerly known as Three Mile Island.

Constellation signed a deal in late 2024 with Microsoft ( MSFT )

to restart the 835-megawatt reactor, which shut in 2019, and

which would offset Microsoft's ( MSFT ) data center electricity use. The

other unit at the plant, renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center,

shut in 1979 after an accident that chilled the nuclear power

industry.

U.S. power demand is now rising for the first time in two

decades on technologies including artificial intelligence.

Nuclear energy, which is virtually carbon-free, has become an

option for technology companies with uninterrupted power needs

and climate pledges. Critics point out that the U.S. has failed

to find permanent storage for radioactive waste.

Greg Beard, head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs

Office, or LPO, said the restart would support the PJM regional

grid. "This type of energy is important because it's large,

stable, affordable base load power," Beard told reporters.

Constellation said the loan will help it lower the cost of

financing and leverage private investment to restore power to

the grid.

The LPO has more than $250 billion in capital, and "a large

portion of that we expect to be deployed to help reinvigorate

the large-scale nuclear reactor development," Beard said. Energy

Secretary Chris Wright said this month that the bulk of the LPO

money would go to nuclear projects.

Constellation in June had moved up the timeline to restart the

reactor by about a year to 2027 after PJM fast-tracked its

review process to connect the project to the grid.

Constellation said it has hired hundreds of workers,

completed infrastructure inspections and ordered major equipment

for the reactor. It will need to revamp cooling towers, install

a main power transformer among other equipment, and re-fuel

before producing electricity.

It was the first time the LPO declared that a company

had met all conditions for a loan and closed it at the same

time, Beard said. Constellation is guaranteeing the loan, he

said, and that loan structure would protect taxpayers if the

project does not succeed.

Constellation is an "investment-grade" established nuclear

operator that could have gotten a bank loan without the

government's help, Beard said. "But we want to show support for

affordable, reliable, stable, secure energy in the U.S., as

directed by President (Donald) Trump."

The plant also needs U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and

water-related permitting, Constellation said this year.