Episode summary
Inside the AI Revival of the Infamous Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Will Wade, Christel Rendu de Lint, Daniel Barcelo, Michael Gross, James Crombie, Meenakshi Lala
Summary
The episode centers on Three Mile Island’s revival as a power source for the AI buildout, with the host and Bloomberg energy reporter Will Wade arguing that data-center demand has pushed nuclear from pariah to asset. The discussion revisits the 1979 accident, notes that the plant was fully shut in 2019 for economic reasons, and explains why a new long-term deal with Microsoft and Constellation Energy is bringing the site back as the Crane Clean Energy Center. Wade argues that nuclear’s appeal is its ability to supply large amounts of electricity quickly, even as he stresses that the technology remains heavily regulated and risky if corners are cut.
The show then broadens into the investment implications of higher power demand. Christel Rendu de Lint of Vontobel says the macro backdrop remains resilient, but warns that AI can create market concentration and investor overconfidence, especially in US equities and tech. Daniel Barcelo of T1 Energy argues solar and storage will dominate US power additions over the next five years, with natural gas alongside them, while nuclear stays largely flat. Michael Gross of SLR Capital Partners says private credit is facing a trust problem after weak results and retail liquidity worries, but claims disciplined lenders can still outperform by avoiding overexposure to software. The episode closes on Mothers Day demand trends with UrbanStems CEO Meenakshi Lala, who says last-minute shopping and premium add-ons are driving revenue.
Key takeaways
- The host and Will Wade say Microsoft’s AI power needs are helping revive Three Mile Island as a 20-year electricity source for data centers.
- Will Wade argues nuclear risk is real, but says its deaths per terawatt hour are far below coal and natural gas.
- Christel Rendu de Lint says the US market is still attractive, but concentration in seven stocks and AI enthusiasm require diversification.
- Daniel Barcelo says solar and storage are already cheap enough to compete with natural gas and expects them to dominate US power growth over the next five years.
- Michael Gross says private credit remains investable, but managers should slow fundraising and avoid chasing deals just to deploy capital.
Notable quotes
“the economic times, Tim, have certainly changed”
“But now we need electricity and it is it's big tech, it's AI. They need these data centers just need so much electricity”
“solar and storage prices have come down to around the prices of where natural gas is”
“trust is is is you know, hard to win and very easy to lose and it's lost now”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy.
Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week daily podcast with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio. You mentioned one of the most read stories on the Bloomberg.
It's about the Three Mile Island's AI makeover. It's all in a Bloomberg Business Week exclusive about the energy demand largely fueled by the AI data center buildout. And yeah, it's happening not too far from here at Three Mile Island.
Yeah, it's that Three Mile Island. You know, remember go back to March 28th, 1979, 36 seconds after 4:00 a.m. water pumps feeding the steam generators of one of Three Mile Island's two reactors shut down kicking off a series of mechanical failures and human errors that would cascade into a partial core core meltdown, excuse me, and the release of radioactive gases into the air.
The accident was front-page news around the world. Partially shut down at the time, it was fully shut down in 2019 for economic reasons, but the economic times, Tim, have certainly changed.
The gist of uh Bloomberg's Will Wade and Drake Bennett's most recent story, an exclusive. Will is Bloomberg News energy reporter. He joins us here in the studio.
So, lots of detail in here about the rebirth to nuclear. I want to start with just what happened in 1979 and and that nuclear disaster here in the US. I was uh surprised to learn reading your story that even people who had been exposed in the area to what was released as a result of that, according to a study, really only received as much radiation as would would happen in a chest x-ray.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai power demands
- nuclear plant restart
- microsoft energy deal
- private credit
- energy industry trends
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MSFT
- CEG
- Microsoft
- Constellation Energy
- Vontobel
- T1 Energy
- SLR Capital Partners
- UrbanStems
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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