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Illinois Nuclear Industry |
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Report Updated:
August 18, 2006
There are 6 operating nuclear power plants in Illinois: Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, and Quad Cities. With the sole exception of the single-unit Clinton plant, each of these facilities has two reactors. The two reactors at Braidwood and both reactors at Byron are pressurized light water reactors (PWR). The reactors at the other facilities (Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, and Quad Cities are boiling water reactors (BWR). Permanently Shutdown Commercial Reactors: The following reactors in Illinois have been permanently shut down and are in various stages of decommissioning; Dresden 1 (shut down on October 31, 1967), Zion units 1 and 2 (Zion 1 shut down on Feb. 21, 1997; unit 2 on Sept. 19, 1996).
Contribution of Nuclear Power As of January 1, 2005, Illinois ranked 1st among the 31 States with nuclear capacity The origin of all of the commercial and military nuclear industries in the world can be traced back to December 2, 1942 at the University of Chicago. On that day, a team of scientists under Dr. Enrico Fermi initiated the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. The experiment began Illinois' involvement in nuclear development, but did not end it. Sixty-four years later, Illinois remains the national leader in nuclear capacity. Illinois has almost as much nuclear capacity by itself as the United Kingdom. Twenty-one other countries with at least one nuclear plant have less capacity. The growth of the State's nuclear industry is attributable, in large part, to the initiatives of the State government. The Boiler Safety Act of 1951 provided State supervision over future nuclear power generating operations. [1] In 1955, the State's General Assembly formed an Atomic Power Investigation Commission to assess the potential benefits of nuclear power. The eventual outgrowth of this very active interest in nuclear power was the construction of the first privately-built commercial power plant, Dresden 1, which received its operating permit on September 28, 1959. [2]
Illinois Nuclear Highlights
License Renewal On January 3, 2003, applications for license renewal were submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for units 2 and 3 at the Dresden Nuclear Plant and for Quad Cites units 1 and 2. The NRC approved the applications on October 28,2004, and extended the licenses for 20 years each. Air Quality in Illinois Of the 50 States plus the District of Columbia, the electric industry of the State of Illinois ranks 6 th highest in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2004. Carbon Dioxide emissions are of concern because they contribute to global warming. The State’s electric industry ranks 11th highest in Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) emissions and 8th highest in Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions.
Nuclear Generation Electricity generation by nuclear power plants is available for each reactor and each State for the following years: [1] "Record Group 221.000-Department of Nuclear Safety," on line http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/ State of Illinois, current as of January 20, 2004. [2] Pennsylvania brought the Shippingport, the Nation's first nuclear power plant, on line in 1957. But Shippingport was built in partnership with the Federal Government. Contact: |
see also:
annual
nuclear statistics back to 1953
projected
electricity capacity to 2025
international
electricity statistics