Vandalia nuclear power plant — United States of America

Vandalia nuclear power plant is a 1,270 MW nuclear power station in Iowa, United States of America. It ranks #429 of 10,884 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 17.4% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_vandalia_unite.

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: GEM Global Nuclear Power Tracker September 2025 unit-status sum (cancelled); fuel: GEM GNPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 1,270 MW, Vandalia nuclear power plant is around the median nuclear plant in United States of America (1,350 MW). Technically it is described as pressurized water reactor. Its current lifecycle status is “Cancelled” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #96 largest nuclear power plant of 176 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 176 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 270,415 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Metro Methane Recovery Facility · Waste · 11.2 MW · Iowa
• Pleasant Hill · Gas · 179.8 MW · Iowa
• Greater Des Moines · Gas · 576.3 MW · Iowa
• Des Moines Wastewater Reclamation Fac · Biomass · 2.8 MW · Iowa
• Anderson Erickson · Oil · 2 MW · Iowa
• Archer Daniels Midland Des Moines · Coal · 7.9 MW · Iowa

Location

Coordinates 41.55501, -93.2814 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions