11th hour effort to save Three Mile Island unlikely to succeed

Three Mile Island
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HARRISBURG, PA. (KYW Newsradio) — The owners of the Three Mile Island plant have announced they are giving up on help from the state legislature and will proceed with shutting the nuclear power station down. And while legislative leaders are indicating that a last-minute attempt to keep the plant open is indeed unlikely, they say the nuclear power discussion will continue. 

The owners of the Three Mile Island plant said they had to have a decision by June 1. But the state Senate has no more scheduled voting days in May.

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The Senate majority leader held out the possibility that the Senate could return if the House moved legislation to boost the nuclear power industry, but on Wednesday, Republican Bryan Cutler – the House majority leader – signaled that is unlikely.

“I think that we need to have a long-term discussion regarding our overall energy portfolio,” Cutler said.

But not enough time to do anything for Three Mile Island?

“Apparently, based on their announcement today, I don’t think there is," Cutler said, "unfortunately.”

But in the long-term, the Senate majority leader, Republican Jake Corman, agrees with Cutler that while electricity from Three Mile Island may ultimately go away, the issue of what to do about Pennsylvania’s nuclear power industry will not.