Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Updated Nuclear Facilities in the U.S. Maps, Shapefiles and Images - Download Free

Yesterday I asked the question, "How many nuclear reactors are there in the United States?" I asked this because after Greenpeace.org published my maps and download link on their blog, a person commented that there are 104 nuclear power plants in the U.S. not 63 as the blog said. At first I figured the confusion came about because some facilities have multiple reactors, but the numbers still didn't add up. As I looked into it further I was becoming increasingly dismayed because every data set I looked at was a bit different - facilities on one list didn't appear on others.

After examining lists in various reports and at government and NGO websites, I've determined that as of March 2011 there are 65 operating nuclear power facilities in the U.S. Each facility has from 1 to 3 reactors for a total of 104. This number does NOT account for those reactors that are decommissioned, reactors at research and university facilities or all of the nuclear waste at various locations around the United States. In time, I will make shapefiles available of these other nuclear hazards. See below for an updated nuclear and seismic hazards shapefile and spreadsheet that you may download and use as you wish.

Here's the new map based on this updated data:



For now, you can download an updated shapefile and speadsheet that shows all of these nuclear reactors that are currently operating in the U.S.

Also, I've added some map images in PNG, TIF and Acrobat PDF formats that you may download and use as you see fit.

Download the U.S. Nuclear Facility and Seismic Hazards Shapefiles, Maps and Images

Monday, March 21, 2011

How many nuclear power plant reactors are there in the United States?

A few people visiting the nuclear power plant and seismic hazard page have noted that their only appears to be around 63 nuclear power plants on the map, yet, they say, there should be 104. At first I thought they were confused because many of the nuclear power plant facilities have more than one reactor. Some have as many as 3. So, I checked with the NRC and found 2 different lists that had 64 plants and 103 reactors, but the lists were not identical. A few plants appearing on one list, did not appear on the other. So, to get at the bottom of this and find the most current list of operating nuclear power plants in the U.S. I am going to compare the two NRC lists with those from Nukeworker.org, IEA and the World Nuclear Association and come up with THE list.

Note that if you look at the current spreadsheet or shapefile that you may download from this page, you will find several other types of nuclear related facilities besides Nuclear Power Plants. In the future, I'd like to also list and document all the non-energy related reactors that are in operation at national laboratories, universities, hospitals, research firms and elsewhere. Beyond that it is also important to document decommissioned nuclear power plants and other places that nuclear waste is currently stored.

View and download the nuclear power plant and seismic hazards shapefiles and spreadsheet