Iowa Nuclear Industry
| Nuclear Power Plants in Iowa Net Generation and Capacity, 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant Name/ Total Reactors |
Capacity Net MW(e) |
Net Generation Million kwh |
Share of State Nuclear Generation (percent) |
Operator/Owner |
| Duane Arnold 1 reactor |
563 |
4,928 |
100 |
Nuclear Management Company/several* |
Source: Form EIA-860, "Annual Electric Generator Report," and Form EIA-906, "Power Plant Report." *Florida Power & Light obtained majority ownership from Alliant Energy in January 2006. The Central Iowa Power Cooperative owns 20 percent of Duane Arnold and the Corn Belt Power Cooperative owns 10 percent.. |
Duane Arnold's boiling water reactor (BWR) is the only reactor in the State of Iowa.
Permanently Shutdown Commercial Reactors: There are no retired reactors located in Iowa.
| Nuclear Power Generation in Iowa, 1975 through 2005 Million kilowatthours |
 |
Sources: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-906, Power Plant Report, and predecessor forms. |
Nuclear Generation
Electricity generation by nuclear power plants is available for each reactor and each State for the following years:
Contribution of Nuclear Power
As of January 1, 2005, Iowa ranked 30th among the 31 States with nuclear capacity.
Iowa's utility industry is heavily dependent on coal. Iowa's power plant airborne emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and Nitrogen Oxides rank the in the upper half among the 50 States and District of Columbia. If the Duane Arnold Energy Center had not been built, a coal-fired power plant (or plants) would have been the most likely alternative.
To understand Iowa's relationship to nuclear power, it is helpful to understand something about Iowa. A survey of 64,645 native Iowans by the Information Please Almanac revealed that the largest share of the workforce is in offices or vehicles: production, transportation, and material moving occupations (15.3 percent); sales and office occupations (30.2 percent), and the largest share is in management, professional, and related occupations (34.6 percent). So Iowa, like Illinois or New York or California, is a very business-oriented State. Only 0.2 percent of the population was in the category that included farming.
The hard facts of energy economics in Iowa include sparse local fuel resources and tight budgets for developing them. The State government encourages and publicizes small scale renewable energy projects, but it appears unlikely that local renewable energy production will provide enough domestic electricity supply in the next decade to reach 10 percent of the total. So Iowa utilities, like those in most States, will face the challenge to keep the power on, and to keep prices and emissions as low as possible.
| Electricity Market in Iowa (Percent Generated by Fuel) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Coal | Natural Gas |
Hydro | Nuclear | Other |
| 2005 |
78 |
6 |
2 |
10 |
4 |
| 2004 |
82 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
3 |
| 2003* |
85 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
1 |
| 2002* |
83 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
|
Source: EIA-906, "Power Plant Report." *Totals do not equal 100 percent due to independent rounding. |
|||||
Iowa Nuclear Highlights
- In January 2006, Florida Power & Light acquired the majority share (70 percent) of the Duane Arnold plant.
- Only 8 of the Nation's 104 commercial reactors are smaller than Duane Arnold, but the reactor's performance as measured by the capacity factor (ratio of the actual amount of electricity output to the total amount that could have been produced) is comparable to much larger units. In 2005, the capacity factor was 92 percent.
- Duane Arnold, like other nuclear plants, is coping with delays in opening the national waste depository at Yucca Mountain. In 2001, the Des Moines Register reported that the spent fuel pool would be full within 2 years. An interim plan was developed to accommodate future waste as the delays at Yucca Mountain continue.
License Renewal
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) anticipates that Nuclear Management Company LLC will apply for license renewal of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in 2008, probably in late fall or during winter.
Air Quality in Iowa
Of the 50 States plus the District of Columbia, the electric industry of the State of Iowa ranks 23rd highest in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The State’s electric industry ranks 21st highest in sulfur oxide (SO2) emissions and 20th highest in nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions.
| Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 Metric Tons |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Carbon Dioxide CO2 |
Sulfur Dioxide SO2 |
Nitrogen Oxide NOX |
| 1989 |
27,840,204 | 205,549 | 149,188 |
| 1990 |
28,992,402 | 182,766 | 152,100 |
| 1991 |
30,956,321 | 203,511 | 161,160 |
| 1992 |
30,014,797 | 190,474 | 147,817 |
| 1993 |
32,200,968 | 203,479 | 159,641 |
| 1994 |
32,552,859 | 191,246 | 154,912 |
| 1995 |
34,691,233 | 183,035 | 164,337 |
| 1996 |
34,622,012 | 170,878 | 88,263 |
| 1997 |
34,065,624 | 195,981 | 82,340 |
| 1998 |
37,621,667 | 160,237 | 87,131 |
| 1999 |
38,862,002 | 166,744 | 87,953 |
| 2000 |
40,899,918 | 149,195 | 86,940 |
| 2001 |
41,002,907 | 166,144 | 87,425 |
| 2002 |
40,896,832 | 165,795 | 89,385 |
| 2003 |
40,615,691 | 138,848 | 78,160 |
| 2004 |
40,043,003 | 135,422 | 78,610 |
| Source: EIA-767 and EIA-906 Survey, Energy Information Administration | |||
| Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 (CO2)* |
 |
| *Carbon Dioxide |
Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 (SO2)* |
 |
| *Sulfur Dioxide |
Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 (NOX)* |
 |
| Nitrogen Oxide |
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