In 2019, the nuclear plant Three Mile Island (TMI) near Middletown, Pennsylvania, was shut down. In 2024, the energy company Constellation, which provides electricity and natural gas to customers in 16 states and Washington, announced its plans to restore TMI’s Unit 1 power station. In 1979, TMI’s Unit 2 was the site of a partial reactor meltdown, and for safety, Unit 1 was also closed. What is the history of TMI-1? What will Constellation need to do to prepare the reactor to restart? Todd Allen, a U-M professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, unpacks the situation for The Conversation.
