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RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berwick, Pennsylvania - 14 January 2025
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1. Amazon data center and Susquehanna nuclear power plant
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphia - 16 January 2025
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Lee, University of Pennsylvania Engineering Professor
“The Amazon plan with the nuclear power plant here is interesting because Talen Energy operates the nuclear power plant and they essentially built a data center next to its power plant and sold it to Amazon. And they have been authorized to build up to 300 megawatts of data center capacity next to the power plant. And they wanted to increase that capacity out to 480 megawatts. And that was it... that was in a goal to increase the amount of computing that would be done and connected directly to a nuclear nuclear power plant, but also to to increase the cash flow going to to Talen Energy and and its infrastructure. So this is an advantage for Amazon because it gets direct access to a very large amount of energy. It can build two, three, maybe four very large AI-based data centers within that power budget, and it helps the nuclear power plant with with its revenue streams.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berwick, Pennsylvania - 14 January 2025
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3. Susquehanna nuclear power plant and Amazon data center
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphia - 16 January 2025
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Lee, University of Pennsylvania Engineering Professor
“FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) has rejected the decision to increase that out to 480. So there was an initial approval for 300 megawatts and a rejection at 480 megawatts. This decision really reflects increasing concerns about the extent to which this connection between Amazon and the nuclear power plant is truly independent of the broader grid. There are concerns that connecting that much data center power could compute directly to nuclear imposes a risk to grid stability. And it also may pose a risk to ratepayers who may have to share some of these significant costs associated with the grid, for example, interconnection costs, transmission line costs, etc.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berwick, Pennsylvania - 14 January 2025
5. Front view of cooling towers at Susquehanna nuclear plant
6. Side view of cooling towers at Susquehanna nuclear plant
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7. Amazon data center and Susquehanna nuclear plant
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphia - 16 January 2025
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Lee, University of Pennsylvania Engineering Professor
“Now, this is a departure from how data centers normally procure energy, because normally a data centers would connect with the grid operator and say, I would like to build a data center here and you will give me the electricity that we've contracted to purchase. And they could be coming from any source. They could be coming from nuclear, they could be coming from wind or solar, and they're just electrons flowing through the grid. This setup with Amazon and the nuclear power plant is a more direct connection that we are beginning to see data centers explore.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berwick, Pennsylvania - 14 January 2025
9. Steam coming from cooling towers at Susquehanna nuclear plant
10. Susquehanna nuclear plant and fence
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphia - 16 January 2025
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Lee, University of Pennsylvania Engineering Professor
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania - 14 January 2025
12. Various of Susquehanna nuclear plant and homes
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