Constellation clears two major regulatory hurdles for Crane restart, but workforce and NRC licensing remain open

Constellation Energy has cleared two of the most consequential regulatory barriers standing between the Crane Clean Energy Center - formerly Three Mile Island Unit 1 - and a targeted late-2027 return to service, according to a detailed analysis published 11 August 2026 by NeutronRise^[1]. The plant is designed to deliver 835 MWe of baseload power to the PJM grid under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft^[1].

The interconnection fix

The more acute near-term obstacle was a transmission bottleneck. Without relief, PJM's queue for transmission upgrades would have prevented the plant from delivering full output until 2030 or 2031 - years after the planned restart date and potentially damaging to equipment that nuclear units cannot safely run at partial load for extended periods.

On 1 June 2026, FERC approved a waiver allowing Constellation to transfer 760 MW of Capacity Interconnection Rights from its retiring Eddystone fossil-fuel plant near Philadelphia to the Crane unit. FERC concluded the transfer addressed a concrete reliability problem and would not harm third parties. The independent market monitor had opposed the waiver, but FERC overruled those objections.

The practical effect: Crane can now reach full deliverability without waiting for the underlying transmission upgrades, keeping the 2027 target intact.

The environmental review

In parallel, on 8 June 2026 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a draft environmental assessment and a draft finding of no significant impact (FONSI) covering the proposed reauthorization of power operations at the site. The NRC's preliminary conclusion - that the restart "would have no significant environmental impacts" - is a required step before the agency can grant final approval.

The NRC also published a hearing opportunity in the Federal Register on 24 February 2026, covering three license amendment requests Constellation filed between July and October 2025. Those amendments would restore the facility's license to the conditions required for an operating reactor, covering:

• Technical specifications (currently set for a permanently defueled state)
• The radiological emergency preparedness plan and emergency action level scheme
• The physical security plan

The public comment period on the draft FONSI closed 8 July 2026. Final NRC authorization remains pending.

Workforce: the longer lead-time problem

Regulatory clearances are necessary but not sufficient. When Constellation announced the restart, staffing at the site had fallen to roughly 80 people - down from a workforce of about 650 at the 2019 shutdown. The company is now targeting 600 permanent employees: 150 "boomerang" workers returning from other Constellation sites and 450 new hires.

The most time-constrained element is operator licensing. Approximately 90 plant operators are currently in NRC licensing training, a process that cannot be compressed significantly. A second class of trainees was slated to begin courses in early 2026. Uranium fuel delivery is targeted for the end of 2026.

Beyond the permanent headcount, the plant will require periodic surges: 1,500 to 2,000 workers are expected to spend weeks on site during refueling outages, which occur roughly every two years.

Observers have flagged a secondary staffing concern: reduced headcount at the NRC and FEMA following federal workforce reductions could slow the licensing review itself. The NRC's reactor safety director acknowledged the agency is "a leaner organization" but said it does not foresee difficulty completing a thorough review.

What to watch

The NRC's final decision on the three license amendments is the remaining gating item for a 2027 restart. A DOE loan guarantee is also under active consideration, with the agency listed as a cooperating party in the environmental review. The first FEMA-led emergency preparedness exercise - involving five Pennsylvania counties in the 10-mile planning zone - is scheduled for early 2027. Whether operator licensing classes can be completed and certified on schedule before fuel load will be the operational test of Constellation's fast-track execution.