Economic Benefits Study Finds Millstone Nuclear Power Plant Contributes One Billion Dollars to U.S. Economy

An economic study conducted by NEI* found that the Millstone nuclear power plant in New London County, Connecticut, contributes $585 million to the state's economy and more than $1.1 billion to the U.S. economy, including labor income of $174.5 million. The plant generates half of the state's electricity production.  Full story

*From Nuclear Energy Institute website, July 2003

Connecticut Nuclear Highlights

• In 2008, the State of Connecticut ranked 18th in nuclear capacity and 17th in nuclear generation. Monthly and cumulative nuclear generation and annual nuclear capacity for each State and each reactor is reported in a table elsewhere on this site.
• Millstone nuclear power plant ranks 62nd on the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) list of largest power plants.
• With few domestic fuel resources and the potential for winter weather to disrupt domestic and foreign fossil fuel imports and hamper renewable fuels, it might not be surprising that four of the six New England States have nuclear power plants.  Connecticut, however, is the only nuclear power plant in the region that has more than one reactor.  At one time, Millstone had three reactors in operation.  The number one reactor was shut down permanently in July 1998.
• Millstone is the largest electric power plant in the State, by far. Millstone’s net capacity (2,006 MWe) is more than double that of Connecticut’s second largest electric power plant, Middletown (net capability 836 MW).
  

Nuclear Generation in Connecticut, 1960 through 2003 Million Kilowatt Hours

*Total Nuclear Generation was zero in year 2002    Sources: Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data Report 1999, and Electric Power Annual, Volume 1, 2001, and EIA Survey Form 906.

Competing Fuels

In 2008, the State of Connecticut ranked 18th in nuclear capacity and 17th in nuclear generation. Monthly and cumulative nuclear generation and annual nuclear capacity for each State and each reactor is reported in a table elsewhere on this site.

In 2007, nuclear power supplied nearly half of the electricity generated by the State. The percentage of electricity generated by coal, gas, nuclear, and hydropower for each state with at least one commercial reactor is reported in the Electricity Market table.

License Renewal 

According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an application for license renewals of both reactors (units 2 and 3) was received on January 22, 2004.  NRC is currently reviewing the applications. 

Information on the current status of all license renewal applications appears on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov .  To locate the data, select “index,” then select the letter “l” and click on “License Renewal.”

Air Quality in Connecticut

Total greenhouse emissions for the electric power industry of each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia, are reported for the most current data year.

Of the 50 States plus the District of Columbia, the electric industry of the State of Connecticut ranked 41st highest in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in 2007. The State's electric industry ranked 47th highest in sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions and 46th highest in nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions.

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