Zion Nuclear Power Station
Encyclopedia
Zion Nuclear Power Station was the third dual-reactor nuclear power plant
in the Commonwealth Edison
(ComEd) network and served Chicago
and the northern quarter of Illinois
. The plant was built in 1973, and the first unit started producing power in December, 1973. The second unit came online in September 1974. This power generating station is located on 257 acres (1 km²) of Lake Michigan
shoreline, in the city of Zion
, Lake County, Illinois
. It is approximately 40 direct-line miles north of Chicago, Illinois and 42 miles (67.6 km) south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
.
The Zion Nuclear Power Station was retired on February 13, 1998. The plant had not been in operation since February 1997, after a control-room operator accidentally shut down Reactor 1 and then tried to restart it without following procedures. Reactor 2 was already shut down for refueling at the time of the incident. ComEd concluded that the plant could not produce competitively priced power because it would have cost $435 million to order steam generators which would not pay for themselves before the plant's operating license expired in 2013.
All nuclear fuel
was removed permanently from the reactor vessel and placed in the plant's on-site spent fuel pool by March 9, 1998. Plans were to keep the facility in long-term safe storage (SAFSTOR
) until Unit 2's operating license expires on November 14, 2013. Decontamination and dismantlement were to begin after this date. The estimated date for closure was December 31, 2026.
On August 23, 2010, it was announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
approved the transfer of Exelon's
(ComEd's parent company) license to EnergySolutions of Salt Lake City. The company will begin the 10 year process of dismantling the site, and will eventually haul away pieces of the plant to its property in Utah. The cost of this operation is expected to reach approximately 1 billion dollars. After this is complete, Exelon will resume responsibility and transfer the spent fuel into concrete casks from its current pool.
The power plant is the tallest structure in Lake County.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
in the Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison is the largest electric utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago and Northern Illinois area...
(ComEd) network and served Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and the northern quarter of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The plant was built in 1973, and the first unit started producing power in December, 1973. The second unit came online in September 1974. This power generating station is located on 257 acres (1 km²) of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
shoreline, in the city of Zion
Zion, Illinois
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 24,303 as of 2005. The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie. He also started the Zion Tabernacle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was the only...
, Lake County, Illinois
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
. It is approximately 40 direct-line miles north of Chicago, Illinois and 42 miles (67.6 km) south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
.
The Zion Nuclear Power Station was retired on February 13, 1998. The plant had not been in operation since February 1997, after a control-room operator accidentally shut down Reactor 1 and then tried to restart it without following procedures. Reactor 2 was already shut down for refueling at the time of the incident. ComEd concluded that the plant could not produce competitively priced power because it would have cost $435 million to order steam generators which would not pay for themselves before the plant's operating license expired in 2013.
All nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
was removed permanently from the reactor vessel and placed in the plant's on-site spent fuel pool by March 9, 1998. Plans were to keep the facility in long-term safe storage (SAFSTOR
SAFSTOR
For nuclear power plants governed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, SAFSTOR is one of the options for nuclear decommissioning of a shut down plant. During SAFSTOR the de-fuelled plant is monitored for up to sixty years before complete decontamination and dismantling of the site,...
) until Unit 2's operating license expires on November 14, 2013. Decontamination and dismantlement were to begin after this date. The estimated date for closure was December 31, 2026.
On August 23, 2010, it was announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
approved the transfer of Exelon's
Exelon
Exelon Corporation is an electricity generating and distributing company headquartered in the Chase Tower in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago. It was created in October, 2000 by the merger of PECO Energy Company and Unicom, of Philadelphia and Chicago respectively. Unicom owned Commonwealth Edison...
(ComEd's parent company) license to EnergySolutions of Salt Lake City. The company will begin the 10 year process of dismantling the site, and will eventually haul away pieces of the plant to its property in Utah. The cost of this operation is expected to reach approximately 1 billion dollars. After this is complete, Exelon will resume responsibility and transfer the spent fuel into concrete casks from its current pool.
The power plant is the tallest structure in Lake County.
| Unit 1 | Unit 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating status | Permanently closed | Permanently closed |
| Reactor type | Pressurized water Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... | Pressurized water Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... |
| Reactor manufacturer | Westinghouse Westinghouse Electric Company Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs... | Westinghouse Westinghouse Electric Company Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs... |
| Generation capacity | 1,040 megawatts | 1,040 megawatts |
| Operational date | June 1973 | December 1973 |
| Closure date | January 1998 | January 1998 |