Waterford 3

Nuclear power plant in Louisiana, United States of America. Approximate location 29.9953, -90.4716.

NuclearLouisianaUnited States of America

Waterford 3 is a 1,200 MW nuclear power station in Louisiana, United States of America. It is operated by Entergy Louisiana LLC. Based on reported annual generation of 7,560 GWh, it can supply roughly 2,160,114 homes. It ranks #234 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1985, it is around 41 years old — long-established. 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).

1,200MW installed capacity
7,560GWh reported / yr
2,160,114homes powered
1985commissioned (~41 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0004270.

Reported generation trend

2013: 9,368 GWh20132014: 9,156 GWh20142015: 8,385 GWh20152016: 10,097 GWh20162017: 8,378 GWh20172018: 10,153 GWh20182019: 7,560 GWh201910k GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Entergy Louisiana LLC. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 30.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

20.1°Cannual mean temp
622heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,389cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
5 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 11 °CJF: 13 °CFM: 16 °CMA: 20 °CAM: 24 °CMJ: 26 °CJJ: 28 °CJA: 28 °CAS: 26 °CSO: 21 °CON: 16 °CND: 13 °CD28 °C

Heating degree-days here run 75% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 22/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #44 largest nuclear power plant of 58 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 58 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 104,233 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 29.9953, -90.4716 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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