Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers

Blaming the lack of progress in the Illinois state legislature, Exelon Corporation on Thursday announced it would close two of its nuclear power plants in the state, the Clinton Power Station in Clinton, Ill., and the Quad Cities Generating Station in Cordova, Ill.

Immediately, more than 200 jobs will be impacted. When the plants close, more than 1,500 day-to-day operations jobs will be affected. Additionally, thousands of outage service jobs will be canceled, as well.

The Clinton plant will be the first to close down. Exelon said that plant would be shuttered on June 1, 2017. The Quad Cities plant will close a year after that on June 1, 2018.

The two plants have lost a combined $800 million over the past seven years, “despite being two of Exelon's best-performing plants,” the company said.

The two plants join a growing list of economically threatened or prematurely shuttered plants representing billions of dollars of investments. Ironically, one of the prime culprits in the economic landscape is the low price of natural gas, which is a fossil fuel that contributes carbon emissions that create global warming.

Exelon said the decision was made despite the point that the Illinois legislative session has not ended for the season. However, “the path forward for consideration of the Next Generation Energy Plan legislation is not clear,” Exelon noted.

That Next Generation Energy Plan would compensate nuclear power plants for the clean energy they produce. It would also be a big boon for solar energy, offering solar power rebates and other incentives.

But Exelon said it plans to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within 30 days of its intentions. Exelon is also ending capital investments in the plants that were designed to extend their operating lives.

On the financial side, the company, which operates 23 reactors in 16 locations, said it would take an immediate one-time charge of $150 million to $200 million for 2016 and accelerate approximately $2 billion in depreciation and amortization through the announced shut downs.

Terminating the capital investment projects at Clinton and Quad Cities will impact more than 200 jobs. Shutting down also means canceling future fuel purchases and fuel outage services, affecting more than 1,000 other jobs. In addition, “this is an extremely difficult day for the 1,500 workers who operate these plants safely and reliably each day,” said Chris Crane, Exelon's president and chief executive officer.

The overall impact of the closings have been chronicled here, but bear repeating. State studies have estimated 4,200 jobs and more than $1.2 billion in annual economic activity will dry up with the closing of these plants. Costs for wholesale energy in the state will rise by $439 million to $645 million annually.

In addition, “keeping the plants open would avoid $10 billion in economic damages associated with higher carbon emissions over 10 years,” Exelon said.

The Clinton reactor, 23 miles southeast of Bloomington, Ill., is a General Electric Type 6 Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) that is licensed through Sept. 29, 2026. Exelon is losing more than 10 years of potential service from that plant. Quad Cities Units 1 and 2, 20 miles northeast of Moline, Ill., are General Electric Type 3 BWRs, which have operating licenses that expire on Dec. 14, 2032. Exelon is losing more than 14 years of service from Quad Cities' two reactors.