Dresden 1, one of the first US commercial BWRs (1960-1978), has sat in SAFSTOR for decades next to the still-operating Dresden Units 2 and 3. All its fuel is in the site ISFSI, and the NRC granted Constellation an exemption to finish decommissioning beyond the usual 60-year limit, with closure estimated in 2071.
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Current state
| Status | SAFSTOR |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Morris, Illinois |
| Site | Dresden Nuclear Power Station |
| Units | Unit 1 |
| Unit count | 1 |
| Reactor types | BWR |
| Owner / licensee | Constellation Energy Generation |
| Strategy | Deferred (SAFSTOR) |
| Final shutdown | 1978-10-31 |
| Target completion | 2071 |
| Spent fuel | All Unit 1 spent fuel in the on-site ISFSI. |
| Notable issue | Decommissioning deferred until Units 2 and 3 retire; NRC exemption allows completion beyond 60 years. |
Notes
Exemption date inferred from ADAMS accession ML26012A308 (January 2026).
Timeline
- 1960-07 — Dresden 1 began commercial power production. (source)
- 1978-10-31 — Dresden 1 shut down for the final time. (source)
- 1984 — Chemical decontamination of the primary system was completed. (source)
- 1993-09 — The NRC approved the Decommissioning Program Plan. (source)
- 2024-03-14 — The licensee requested an alternative schedule to complete decommissioning beyond 60 years. (source)
- 2026-01 — NRC issued an exemption allowing decommissioning to finish beyond 60 years. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related sites
- Barsebäck Nuclear Power Plant Active dismantling · Sweden
- Berkeley (Magnox) SAFSTOR · United Kingdom
- Bradwell (Magnox) SAFSTOR · United Kingdom
- Crystal River Unit 3 Site restoration · United States
- Duane Arnold Energy Center Restart planned · United States
- Dungeness B Fuel removal · United Kingdom
- Fermi Unit 1 (Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant) SAFSTOR · United States
- Fort Calhoun Station Site restoration · United States
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- Dresden - Unit 1 — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Exemption for alternative schedule to complete decommissioning beyond 60 years (Dresden 1) — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Locations of Power Reactor Sites Undergoing Decommissioning — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11