Pennsylvania’s dormant Three Mile Island nuclear plant would be brought back to life to feed the voracious energy needs of Microsoft under an unprecedented deal announced Friday in which the tech giant would buy 100 percent of its power for 20 years…
— from an article by Evan Halper “Microsoft deal would reopen Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power AI” in The Washington Post, September 20, 2024.
This was a memorable nuclear accident.
— from “Land, Water, Air and Freedom” by Joan Martínez-Alier, December 2023.
Do the people of Pennsylvania really want to see Three Mile Island brought back into service?
To service AI exclusively?
In the Washington Post article by Evan Halper, the phrase “Three Mile Island nuclear plant” appears in close proximity to the acronym “AI”… which of course stands for “Artificial Intelligence” — although the implication that there’s actually any “intelligence” involved in bringing the Three Mile Island nuclear reactors back to life initially struck this columnist as crazy.
Some of our Daily Post readers will remember the accident at Three Mile Island, when Unit 2 partially melted down in March 1979, releasing radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. The meltdown was the result of a mechanical failure that the staff failed to notice.
The blame falls ultimately on the people working ay Three Mile Island. So we can’t just blame the machinery, which AI no doubt appreciates.
On the 7-point International Nuclear Event Scale, the TMI-2 reactor accident was rated Level 5. Not absolutely terrible, I suppose. The plant owners were sued, but we all know how that stuff goes. The U.S. courts tossed out the lawsuits.
Still, I’m willing to give an intelligent computer system the benefit of the doubt, even if the whole thing seems, on the surface, to be insane. Criminally insane. Psychotic, even.
Since the proposal involves Microsoft and its massive need for electricity to run its AI services, I logged on to the Microsoft AI application named ‘Copilot’, and asked:
“Is it a good idea to reactivate the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant?”
The Copilot AI response mentioned the good, bad and ugly considerations, and came to this conclusion:
Whether reactivating Three Mile Island is a good idea depends on how these factors are balanced. It requires careful consideration of the plant’s safety upgrades, regulatory compliance, economic viability, and public sentiment. Engaging with the community and ensuring transparent communication about safety measures and benefits can also play a crucial role in this decision.
So, non-committal. “It all depends.” Sounds like the way a husband would respond to a difficult question. So I’m assuming that Copilot is a male AI.
I’m also assuming that Microsoft would prefer that its AI engine didn’t tell us the full story.
Maybe another AI has a different perspective? I posed the same question to ChatGPT, which is programmed by OpenAI.
“Is it a good idea to reactivate the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant?”
ChatGPT also listed the benefits and risks, and then concluded:
While there are benefits, particularly related to energy production and emissions reduction, the risks and challenges tied to safety, aging infrastructure, waste management, and public opposition make reactivating the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant a debatable choice. In today’s energy landscape, where renewables are increasingly viable, some experts argue it might be better to invest in cleaner, modern alternatives rather than revisiting an older, historically controversial nuclear facility.
So, a “debatable choice”. We’re not sure yet who will be included in the debate, but I bet the citizens living in proximity to Three Mile Island (which is actually an island, by the way) will want to debate the issue.
But of course, OpenAI has a partnership with Microsoft, so maybe ChatGPT is not allowed to tell us the full story either.
Another, more independent voice? Anyone? How about the Google AI named ‘Gemini’?
“Is it a good idea to reactivate the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant?”
Again, the benefits and risks were briefly outlined. And then we got another non-committal, husband-like response.
Ultimately, the decision to reactivate Three Mile Island is a complex one that requires careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks. Factors such as public opinion, regulatory approval, and economic viability will all play a role in determining whether the plant will be reopened.
Three supposedly “intelligent” AI engines… not one of them willing to give me a straight “yes” or “no”.
I suspect I could stop any average person in the aisle at City Market and get a straight “yes” or “no”.
The worst part of this whole story is that Google and Microsoft and Amazon and Meta and the rest of the AI barons require vast amounts of electricity to generate non-committal answers like the ones above. And their data centers consume incredible amounts of electricity and water to cool the servers. At the rate things are going, electricity companies are now putting outdated 50-year-old coal-fired power plants back into service… to meet the enormous demands of data centers and AI computing centers… while the centers arrogantly drain community water supplies.
Hello, pollution, drought, and climate change!
I feel horrible, now, that I posed my question to those three AI systems. What was I thinking?
So this is your warning, dear reader. When the AI data centers come knocking on the door here in Pagosa Springs — and believe me, they will eventually come knocking — don’t answer the door.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.