Zion Nuclear Power Station
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Zion Station was the third dual-reactor nuclear power plant in the Commonwealth Edison network and served Chicago and the northern one-fourth of Illinois. This power generating station is located in the extreme eastern portion of the city of Zion, Lake County, Illinois. It is approximately 40 direct-line miles north of Chicago, Illinois and 42 miles south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The two-unit Zion Nuclear Power Station was retired in February, 1998. The 25-year old 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. Commonwealth Edison, owner of the plant, concluded that Zion could not produce competitively priced power because it would have cost $435 million to order steam generators that couldn't be installed in time to pay for themselves because the plant's operating license would have expired in 2013.
Plans are to keep the facility in long-term safe storage until it begins dismantlement after 2010, to be completed in 2014. All nuclear fuel has been removed permanently from the reactor vessel, and the fuel has been placed in the plant's onsite spent fuel pool.
The plant had a bad safety record, including workers sleeping on the job, and workers under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and other substances.
- Zion 1
- Zion, Ill., United States
- Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
- Net Output: 1040 MWe
- Permanently shut down. Date started: June 1973. Date closed: January 1998.
- Zion 2
- Zion, Ill., United States
- Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
- Net Output: 1040 MWe
- Permanently shut down. Date started: December 1973. Date closed: January 1998.
