Byron nuclear power plant
Byron nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in United States with 2 operating units totalling 2,452 MW gross. The site has 2 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | PWR | WH 4LP (DRYAMB) | 1,242 | 1985 | |
| Unit 2 | PWR | WH 4LP (DRYAMB) | 1,210 | 1987 |
Unit by unit
Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.
Byron nuclear power plant 1
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Westinghouse 4-loop |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,242MW |
| Net capacity | 1,164MW |
| Thermal output | 3,645MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Westinghouse Electric Company |
| Owner | Exelon Corp100% |
| Operator | Exelon Generation |
| Construction start | 1 Apr 1975 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 2 Feb 1985 |
| Grid connection | 1 Mar 1985 |
| Commercial operation | 16 Sep 1985 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Byron nuclear power plant 1
Byron nuclear power plant 2
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Westinghouse 4-loop |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,210MW |
| Net capacity | 1,136MW |
| Thermal output | 3,645MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Westinghouse Electric Company |
| Owner | Exelon Corp100% |
| Operator | Exelon Generation |
| Construction start | 1 Apr 1975 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 9 Jan 1987 |
| Grid connection | 6 Feb 1987 |
| Commercial operation | 2 Aug 1987 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Byron nuclear power plant 2
Byron nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Byron nuclear power plant is the 11th largest of 54 operating nuclear sites in the United States, holding 2% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 61st of 172 worldwide.
Its operating units started up between 1985 and 1987; the median unit is 40.0 years old, younger than the median of 45.0 in the United States.
The 2 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 9.9 to 11.9 years (median 10.9) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Quad Cities nuclear power plant (94 km), LaSalle nuclear power plant (105 km) and Dresden nuclear power plant (113 km).
2 operating units are rated differently now from their design net capacities: Unit 1 +3.9% and Unit 2 +1.4%.
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 1975 | 1985 | 9.9 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit 2 | 1975 | 1987 | 11.9 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quad Cities nuclear power plant | United States | 94 km | 1.9 |
| LaSalle nuclear power plant | United States | 105 km | 2.4 |
| Dresden nuclear power plant | United States | 113 km | 1.9 |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Byron nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Illinois, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42.0742, -89.2819 |
| Elevation | about 275 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 1,070 km from the sea |
| Region | Northern America |
| Units by status | Operating: 2 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | Exelon Corp |
|---|---|
| Operators | Exelon Generation |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data