Duane Arnold's boiling water reactor (BWR) is the only reactor in the State of Iowa.

Permanently Shutdown Commercial Reactors: There are no retired reactors located in Iowa.

Nuclear Power Generation in Iowa, 1975 through 2005 Million kilowatthours

Sources: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-906, Power Plant Report, and predecessor forms.

Nuclear Generation

Electricity generation by nuclear power plants is available for each reactor and each State for the following years:

• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005

Contribution of Nuclear Power

In 2008, the State of Iowa ranked last in nuclear capacity among the 31 states that have nuclear power plants and 30th 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.

Iowa's utility industry is heavily dependent on coal. Iowa's power plant airborne emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and Nitrogen Oxides rank the in the upper half among the 50 States and District of Columbia. If the Duane Arnold Energy Center had not been built, a coal-fired power plant (or plants) would have been the most likely alternative.

To understand Iowa's relationship to nuclear power, it is helpful to understand something about Iowa. A survey of 64,645 native Iowans by the Information Please Almanac revealed that the largest share of the workforce is in offices or vehicles: production, transportation, and material moving occupations (15.3 percent); sales and office occupations (30.2 percent), and the largest share is in management, professional, and related occupations (34.6 percent). So Iowa, like Illinois or New York or California, is a very business-oriented State. Only 0.2 percent of the population was in the category that included farming.

The hard facts of energy economics in Iowa include sparse local fuel resources and tight budgets for developing them. The State government encourages and publicizes small scale renewable energy projects, but it appears unlikely that local renewable energy production will provide enough domestic electricity supply in the next decade to reach 10 percent of the total. So Iowa utilities, like those in most States, will face the challenge to keep the power on, and to keep prices and emissions as low as possible.

In 2007, coal accounted for three fourths 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.

Iowa Nuclear Highlights

• In January 2006, Florida Power & Light acquired the majority share (70 percent) of the Duane Arnold plant.
• Only 8 of the Nation's 104 commercial reactors are smaller than Duane Arnold, but the reactor's performance as measured by the capacity factor (ratio of the actual amount of electricity output to the total amount that could have been produced) is comparable to much larger units. In 2005, the capacity factor was 92 percent.
• Duane Arnold, like other nuclear plants, is coping with delays in opening the national waste depository at Yucca Mountain. In 2001, the Des Moines Register reported that the spent fuel pool would be full within 2 years. An interim plan was developed to accommodate future waste as the delays at Yucca Mountain continue.

License Renewal

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) anticipates that Nuclear Management Company LLC will apply for license renewal of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in 2008, probably in late fall or during winter.

Air Quality in Iowa

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 Iowa ranked  23rd highest in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in 2007. The State's electric industry ranked 19th highest in sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions and 29th highest in nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions.

Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1990-2007 Metric Tons
Year	Carbon Dioxide CO2	Sulfur Dioxide SO2	Nitrogen Oxides NOx
1990	28,992,402	182,766	152,100
1991	30,956,321	203,511	161,160
1992	30,014,797	190,474	147,817
1993	32,200,968	203,479	159,641
1994	32,552,859	191,246	154,912
1995	34,691,233	183,035	164,337
1996	34,622,012	170,878	88,263
1997	34,065,624	195,981	82,340
1998	37,621,667	160,237	87,131
1999	38,862,002	166,744	87,953
2000	40,899,918	149,195	86,940
2001	41,002,907	166,144	87,425
2002	40,896,832	165,795	89,385
2003	40,615,691	138,848	78,160
2004	40,043,003	135,422	78,610
2005	40,206,677	135,651	74,734
2006	40,577,052	132,387	64,089
2007	43,858,798	135,656	58,239
Source: EIA-767 and EIA-906 Survey, Energy Information Administration

Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 (CO2)*

*Carbon Dioxide

Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 (SO2)*

*Sulfur Dioxide

Iowa Airborne Emissions, Electricity Sector, 1989-2004 (NOX)*

Nitrogen Oxide

Useful Information on Other Web Sites

General Information on Iowa (e.g., history, flag)

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