Nine Illinois communities have formally told the state they are open to hosting a new nuclear facility, marking an early milestone in Illinois’ revived push to consider new reactor development.

The responses were filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission after the agency set a May 25 deadline for communities to answer a state notice of intent. According to the original submissions process, filing a response does not bind a community to a project, but it does place that community into the state’s ongoing review.

Early step in a longer process

The Illinois Commerce Commission has not publicly identified all nine communities, but their submissions put them on record as interested in exploring the possibility of a new nuclear facility.

"The ICC will now review the nine community responses as part of the ongoing siting and planning process - and that review isn’t going to produce quick results."

The state created the community-facing notice of intent as one part of a two-track approach. A separate notice targeted nuclear developers, while the community process was meant to gather expressions of local interest independently. The article states that this structure was intended to keep both tracks moving without requiring early commitments from either communities or developers.

How the process began

The current process began in February, when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order directing the ICC to issue two notices of intent: one for developers and one for potential host communities.

That order followed his decision about one month earlier to lift Illinois’s longstanding moratorium on new nuclear reactor construction. The source article says the moratorium had effectively blocked formal state planning or permitting for new reactors, regardless of interest from developers or communities.

With the moratorium removed, the ICC was able to begin a formal process with deadlines, submissions, and agency review.

Illinois’ nuclear backdrop

Illinois already ranks among the country’s largest nuclear energy-producing states, according to the source article. Existing reactors provide a substantial share of the state’s electricity, and the article says the state also has infrastructure, workforce experience, and regulatory familiarity tied to nuclear generation.

The source article also places Illinois within a broader national discussion about expanding nuclear capacity, citing growing electricity demand, decarbonization goals, and advances in reactor technology, including smaller modular reactor designs.

At the same time, the article notes that new nuclear construction in the US has historically encountered major cost overruns and delays.

What comes next

The ICC’s review is the next stage, but the process is expected to move slowly. According to the source article, nuclear facility siting includes environmental assessments, infrastructure analysis, regulatory approvals, and long-term community engagement before construction decisions are made.

For now, the clearest outcome is that nine Illinois communities met the May 25 deadline and formally expressed interest in hosting a new nuclear facility. Their responses represent the community side of the state’s two-part notice of intent process, launched after the moratorium on new reactor construction was lifted.

Read the source