An Illinois nuclear power plant that just last year had been slated for closure could be getting a new lease on life, the facility’s operator said this week.
Constellation Energy, which owns Dresden Nuclear Generating Station, has applied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license extension for the Morris, Ill., plant, the company said in its Monday press release. Constellation is seeking a similar extension for Clinton Power Station, also located in Illinois.
If the proposed extension is approved by NRC, the Dresden plant’s two operating reactors would be licensed to run until 2049 and 2051, respectively.
The Dresden plant had until been slated for closure until September 2021, when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed into law roughly $700 million in financial support for nuclear power plants in the Land of Lincoln.
In its Monday press release, Constellation credited the second wind to “state and federal legislation that recognizes the unique environmental and economic value of nuclear energy.” In addition to the Springfield bailout, the company noted the nuclear production tax credit made law under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, signed in August by President Joe Biden.
“With these extensions, Clinton and Dresden will further demonstrate the capability of nuclear assets to provide always-on clean energy when and where it is needed for decades to come, which is a testament to their unique value in addressing the climate crisis,” Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez said in a statement.
Back from the brink, Dresden is one of the few successful resurrection stories in the civilian nuclear industry, where power plants are coming down much faster than they’re going up. Meanwhile, Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, which shut down in May, was the most recent facility to go offline. Indian Point Energy Center went dark in April 2021.
