A nuclear engineer who learned that his employer was working on a project to potentially revive a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island — the site of a famous meltdown in 1979 — has been charged with insider trading for seeking to profit on that knowledge.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed charges against a former engineer with Constellation Energy Corp., Casey Muggleston, alleging that he traded options on the company’s stock ahead of its announcement in September 2024 that the company had reached a 20-year deal with Microsoft Corp. that would see the tech company purchase power from Constellation to operate data centres.
That deal paved the way for Constellation to restart a reactor on Three Mile Island — not the reactor that was the scene of the 1979 disaster — the site’s other reactor was reopened in 1985, but had been shut down again in 2019.
After the agreement with Microsoft was announced, Constellation’s stock price jumped by more than 22% and the SEC alleged that Muggleston generated US$1.4 million in illicit profits by trading on the confidential information.
Alongside the SEC’s complaint, Muggleston was also charged with one count of securities fraud and four counts of insider trading by the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Delaware.
In its case, the SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement and civil penalties.
None of the allegations have been proven.