LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station

LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station
LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station NRC Image
Map
Official nameLaSalle County Generating Station
CountryUnited States
LocationBrookfield Township, LaSalle County, near Marseilles, Illinois
Coordinates41°14′44″N 88°40′9″W / 41.24556°N 88.66917°W / 41.24556; -88.66917
StatusOperational
Construction beganSeptember 10, 1973
Commission dateUnit 1: October 20, 1982
Unit 2: October 19, 1984[1]
OwnerConstellation Energy
OperatorConstellation Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeBWR
Reactor supplierGeneral Electric
Cooling sourceLaSalle Lake
Thermal capacity2 × 3546 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 1137 MW
1 × 1140 MW
Make and modelBWR-5 (Mark 2 Containment)
Nameplate capacity2277 MW
Capacity factor94.79% (2017)
79.25% (lifetime)
Annual net output18,908 GWh (2017)
External links
WebsiteLaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station

LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station, located in Brookfield Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, near Marseilles, 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Ottawa, serves Chicago and Northern Illinois with electricity. The plant is owned and operated by Constellation Energy following separation from Exelon Corporation in 2022. Its Units 1 and 2 began commercial operation in October 1982,[1] and October 1984,[1] respectively.

It has two General Electric boiling water reactors. LaSalle's Unit 1 and Unit 2 together produce 2,320 megawatts, which is enough electricity for the needs of 2.3 million American homes.[1] Instead of cooling towers, the station has a 2,058-acre (833 ha) man-made cooling lake, which is also a popular fishery — LaSalle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area — managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.[1]

The plant and its man-made lake viewed from an aircraft
  1. ^ a b c d e "LaSalle Fact Sheet" (PDF). Exelon. 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2021.