Exelon Corp. is preparing to dismantle the Zion Nuclear Power Plant just north of Chicago:
Although the timetable hasn't been set, more than about 500,000 cubic feet of material will be moved, everything from concrete walls, pipes, wiring, machinery, even desks and chairs. Much of it is contaminated with low-level radiation. Enough to fill roughly 80 rail cars, it will be transported to EnergySolutions' site 80 miles west of Salt Lake City.
It's easier and cheaper than separating the contaminated material from the uncontaminated, officials said.
Estimated cost: $1 billion. ComEd customers began paying into that fund in the late 1970s, a fee not removed from their bills until 2006.
Starting up the plant again would cost about that much, Exelon said. The plant has been shut down since 1998.