|
News
|
LCG, December 16, 2025--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced today that it has renewed the operating licenses of Constellation LLC’s Clinton Unit 1 in Clinton, Illinois, and Dresden Units 2 and 3, near Morris, Illinois, for an additional 20 years beyond the current expiration dates. The combined capacity of these three, Illinois-based nuclear units is 2,925 MW, and the operating license extension will enable the units to generate carbon-free power through about 2050.
Read more
|
|
LCG, December 12, 2025--Today, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) announced strategic organizational changes designed to accelerate innovation, strengthen grid reliability, and support the unprecedented growth in the demand for electricity across Texas. To meet these objectives, ERCOT created two new organizations: Interconnection and Grid Analysis, and Enterprise Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The two organizations will formally launch in January 2026.
Read more
|
|
|
Industry News
NRC Renews Operating Licenses for Constellation's Nuclear Reactors at Clinton and Dresden Facilities
LCG, December 16, 2025--The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced today that it has renewed the operating licenses of Constellation LLC’s Clinton Unit 1 in Clinton, Illinois, and Dresden Units 2 and 3, near Morris, Illinois, for an additional 20 years beyond the current expiration dates. The combined capacity of these three, Illinois-based nuclear units is 2,925 MW, and the operating license extension will enable the units to generate carbon-free power through about 2050.
"With today’s decision to renew the operating licenses for Clinton Unit 1 and Dresden Units 2 and 3, the NRC has now approved 20-year extensions for 13 reactors this year," said the Acting Director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. "This milestone reflects our continued focus on improving efficiency in the license renewal process, while upholding the NRC’s high standards for safety and security. Equally important, these renewals help ensure that safe, reliable, and carbon-free electricity continues to supply our Nation’s electric power grid. Together, these units will generate more than 12 gigawatts of electricity over the next two decades, enough for nearly 10 million homes across the country."
Clinton Clean Energy Center's Unit 1 boiling-water reactor renewed facility operating license will expire in April 2047. The NRC review of Constellation’s initial license renewal application, requesting authorization to operate Clinton Unit 1 from 40 to 60 years, addressed both safety and environmental matters for the 1,080-MW facility. The NRC issued a safety evaluation and a final supplemental environmental impact statement in August 2025.
Dresden Clean Energy Center's Units 2 and 3 boiling-water reactors renewed facility operating licenses will now expire in December 2049 for Unit 2 and January 2051 for Unit 3. The NRC review of Constellation’s subsequent (second) license renewal application, requesting authorization to operate from 60 to 80 years, addressed both safety and environmental matters for the two reactors, with a combined capacity of 1,845 MW. The NRC issued a safety evaluation and a final supplemental environmental impact statement in September 2025.
Constellation stated that it is investing more than $370 million to relicense the plants, installing state-of-the-art upgrades to increase efficiency and ensure safety and reliability for decades to come. Constellation's Executive Vice President and Chief Generation Officer commented, "In the last ten years, we’ve invested over $3 billion in our high-performing Illinois nuclear facilities to power the state’s economy with clean, reliable energy. These license extensions will allow Clinton and Dresden to stay online for another two decades, preserving more than 2,200 family-sustaining jobs and $8.1 billion in federal, state and local tax dollars."
At Clinton, two new auxiliary transformers and two advanced equipment chillers are delivering higher system reliability, while upgrades to the plant’s condensate polisher system offer greater protection from component degradation. At Dresden, operators are now using next-generation feedwater level control technology to enhance reactor safety, while a new main power transformer purchased for the plant will deliver state-of-the art electrical system monitoring and control. With these and other upgrades in place, Clinton and Dresden continue to operate at higher levels of safety, reliability and efficiency than the day they came online.
License renewals give Constellation the regulatory approval needed to operate Clinton and Dresden for another two decades. However, actual operation is contingent on each plant’s financial viability. At Clinton, the facility’s carbon-free energy is secure as a result of the 20-year agreement with Meta announced last August. The deal supports the continued operation, expansion and relicensing of the 1,121-MW Clinton facility following the expiration of the state’s Zero Emission Credit (ZEC) program in May 2027.
Constellation’s clean energy portfolio includes 26 nuclear reactors in six states, and the company states that it is investing billions to keep America’s largest nuclear fleet running at world-class levels of safety, reliability and efficiency.
|
|
|
|
UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
|
|
|
UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
|
|
|
UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
|
|
|
PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
|
|
|
|
|
