Dresden Generating Station

Dresden Generating Station
Exterior view of Dresden Station circa 1971
Map
CountryUnited States
LocationGoose Lake Township, Grundy County, near Morris, Illinois
Coordinates41°23′23″N 88°16′5″W / 41.38972°N 88.26806°W / 41.38972; -88.26806
StatusOperational
Construction beganUnit 1: May 1, 1956
Unit 2: January 10, 1966
Unit 3: October 14, 1966
Commission dateUnit 1: July 4, 1960
Unit 2: June 9, 1970
Unit 3: November 16, 1971
Decommission dateUnit 1: October 31, 1978
Construction costUnit 1: $423 million (2010 USD) or $577 million in 2023 dollars[1]
Unit 2: $856 million (2010 USD) or $1.17 billion in 2023 dollars[1]
Unit 3: $828 million (2010 USD) or $1.13 billion in 2023 dollars[1]
OwnerConstellation Energy
OperatorConstellation Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeBWR
Reactor supplierGeneral Electric
Cooling towers4 × Mechanical Draft
(supplemental only)
Cooling sourceDirect open-cycle mode:[a]
Closed-cycle mode:[b]
Indirect open-cycle mode:[c]
Thermal capacity1 × 700 MWth (decommissioned)
2 × 2957 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 902 MW
1 × 895 MW
Make and modelUnit 1: BWR-1 (Mark 1)
Units 2–3: BWR-3 (Mark 1)
Units decommissioned1 × 197 MW
Nameplate capacity1797 MW
Capacity factor98.13% (2017)
73.30% (lifetime, excluding Unit 1)
Annual net output15,447 GWh (2017)
External links
WebsiteDresden Generating Station
CommonsRelated media on Commons
Control room of Dresden Station circa 1962

Dresden Generating Station (also known as Dresden Nuclear Power Plant or Dresden Nuclear Power Station) is the first privately financed nuclear power plant built in the United States. Dresden 1 was activated in 1960 and retired in 1978. Operating since 1970 are Dresden units 2 and 3, two General Electric BWR-3 boiling water reactors. Dresden Station is located on a 953-acre (386 ha) site in Grundy County, Illinois near the city of Morris. It is at the head of the Illinois River, where the Des Plaines River and Kankakee River meet. It is immediately northeast of the Morris Operation—the only de facto high-level radioactive waste storage site in the United States. It serves Chicago and the northern quarter of the state of Illinois, capable of producing 867 megawatts of electricity from each of its two reactors, enough to power over one million average American homes.

In 2004, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the operating licenses for both reactors, extending them from forty years to sixty.[2]

  1. ^ a b c Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  2. ^ "Dresden and Quad Cities, Nuclear Power Stations — License Renewal Application". U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 13, 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-19.


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