Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station
Braidwood Generating Station is located in Will County in northeastern Illinois, U.S. The nuclear power plant serves Chicago and northern Illinois with electricity. The plant was originally built by Commonwealth Edison company, and subsequently transferred to Com Ed's parent company, Exelon Corporation. Following Exelon's spin-off of their Generation company, the station was transferred to Constellation Energy.
| Braidwood Generating Station | |
|---|---|
Aerial image of Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Reed Township, Will County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 41°14′37″N 88°13′45″W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | August 1, 1975 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: July 29, 1987 Unit 2: October 17, 1988 |
| Construction cost | US$4.4 billion (1986) ($10.4 billion in 2023 dollars) |
| Owner(s) | Constellation Energy |
| Operator(s) | Constellation Energy |
| Employees | 800 |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | PWR |
| Reactor supplier | Westinghouse |
| Cooling source | Braidwood Lake |
| Thermal capacity | 2 × 3686 MWth |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 × 1194 MW 1 × 1160 MW |
| Make and model | WH 4-loop (DRYAMB) |
| Nameplate capacity | 2386 MW |
| Capacity factor | 93.1% (2021) 89.55% (lifetime) |
| Annual net output | 19,474 GWh (2021) |
| External links | |
| Website | Braidwood Generating Station |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
This station has two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors. Unit #1 came online in July 1987. Unit #2 came online in May 1988. The units were licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate until 2026 and 2027, then granted extended licenses until 2046 and 2047. Each unit has received two power uprates during their lifetime, the first in May 2001 for 175.6 MWt and the second in February 2014 for 58.4 MWt.
The power uprates at Braidwood granted in 2001 make it the largest nuclear plant in the state, generating a net total of 2,386 megawatts. However the three largest Illinois nuclear power plants are nearly equal in generating capability as LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station is only 2 MW less in capacity than Braidwood and Byron Nuclear Generating Station is only 4 MW less than LaSalle.