Our Region, Nuclear Power and Japan
The earthquake in Japan touches our region in a number of ways. One of them is in nuclear power.
The Midwest, defined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as Region III, has an extensive network of nuclear power operations. There are 24 nuclear reactors at 16 sites across seven states, and 19 research and test reactors.
Among the states we cover at Changing Gears, Illinois leads, by far, with 11 nuclear reactors, including two each at Braidwood, Byron, Dresden, LaSalle County and the Quad Cities, and one at Clinton. Several of those reactors are the same age and type as the ones in trouble in Japan. Our partner station WBEZ looked at the situation Monday morning.
Michigan has four nuclear reactors — D.C. Cook unit one and two, and Palisades, both located on Lake Michigan. There also is the Fermi plant on Lake Erie. Wisconsin has nuclear reactors in three locations — Kewaunee and Point Beach, which has two. Ohio has two, Davis-Besse in the Toledo area, and Perry, which is north east of Cleveland. Indiana has none.
It’s possible to visit the Cook plant, in Michigan, which allows school groups to take tours. The plants also have emergency preparedness plans, like the one at Perry in Ohio.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration offers an in-depth look at each state’s nuclear power status. Here are their entries for Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin.