US Nuclear Power Plants Map: How Close Do You Live to One?

The Nuclear Power Plants Map shows every commercial nuclear reactor in the United States and answers the question most people actually have: how far away is the nearest one? Allow location access or type in an address, and the map returns the distance and direction to the closest operating plant straight away.

There are 96 operating reactors at 56 sites across 28 states, generating about 104 gigawatts between them. You can switch on retired sites to see the closures of the last two decades, or planned sites to see what is coming next. Every plant opens into a detail card with its operator, reactor count, capacity and the year each unit came online.

You can also turn on 10 mile and 50 mile distance rings to see the scale that emergency planners work with. Read the note below on what those rings are and, just as importantly, what they are not.

US Nuclear Power Plants Map

How to use it

1. Tap Use my location, or type an address, city or ZIP code into the search box.
2. Read the headline card for the distance and compass direction to the nearest operating plant.
3. Tick Show 10 and 50 mile rings to see those distances drawn around every operating plant.
4. Use the Operating, Retired and Planned buttons to change which sites appear, or filter down to a single state.
5. Click any marker or any row in the list to open that plant, with its operator, reactor count, capacity and per unit start years.
6. Switch between miles and kilometres with the unit toggle. The page address updates as you go, so you can copy the link and share exactly what you are looking at.

About the data

Every plant on this map comes from Form EIA-860M, the Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It is a public domain federal dataset, refreshed monthly, and it is the same inventory used to track every power generator in the country. The current build uses the May 2026 release: 96 operating reactors at 56 sites totalling 103,698 megawatts, plus 9 retired sites and 2 planned sites. The exact release and build date are shown in the footer of the map itself.

Because the source is updated every month, the map reflects recent changes to the fleet that older nuclear maps often miss, including Vogtle unit 4 entering service in 2024, the restart of Palisades in Michigan, and Three Mile Island Unit 1 returning as the Crane Clean Energy Center.

Three honest limitations are worth stating plainly. First, reactor type is not included. Whether a plant is a pressurised water reactor or a boiling water reactor, along with docket numbers and licence expiry dates, is held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rather than the EIA, so those fields are left out rather than guessed at. Second, the retired layer covers roughly 2002 onward, which is as far back as the EIA retired inventory reaches, so older decommissioned sites such as Zion, Trojan, Rancho Seco and Maine Yankee do not appear. Third, distances are straight line measurements, not driving distances.

Important: this map is not emergency guidance

This map is for general information only. The 10 mile and 50 mile circles are simple distance rings drawn around each plant location. They are not official Emergency Planning Zones. Real EPZ boundaries are set by state and local emergency management agencies and follow roads, terrain and jurisdiction lines rather than perfect circles, so the zone that applies to your address may differ from what the rings suggest. For emergency planning where you live, contact your state or county emergency management agency and consult the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nothing on this page is safety, health or evacuation advice.

Frequently asked questions

How many nuclear power plants are there in the United States?

There are 96 operating commercial nuclear reactors spread across 56 plant sites, with a combined nameplate capacity of about 103,700 megawatts. That is roughly 104 gigawatts of capacity, and it supplies close to a fifth of all electricity generated in the country. Illinois has the most reactors of any state with 11, followed by Pennsylvania with 9 and South Carolina with 7. These figures come from the May 2026 release of the EIA generator inventory.

How far am I from the nearest nuclear power plant?

Tap Use my location, or type your address or ZIP code into the search box, and the map shows the straight-line distance and compass direction to the nearest operating plant. Most people in the eastern half of the country are closer than they expect. Around a third of Americans live within 50 miles of an operating reactor.

What are the 10 mile and 50 mile zones around a nuclear plant?

US nuclear plants have two emergency planning zones. The plume exposure pathway zone extends about 10 miles from the plant and covers direct exposure to airborne material. The ingestion pathway zone extends about 50 miles and covers food and water supplies. Both are planning concepts used by emergency managers, not danger lines.

Are the circles on this map the real Emergency Planning Zones?

No, and this matters. The rings drawn on this map are simple distance circles measured from each plant location. Real Emergency Planning Zone boundaries are drawn by state and local emergency management agencies and follow roads, rivers, terrain and county lines rather than perfect circles. Use the rings to get a sense of scale, then contact your state or county emergency management agency for the boundary that actually applies where you live.

Which nuclear plants have closed recently?

The map includes nine retired sites, among them San Onofre in California, Indian Point in New York, Crystal River in Florida, Kewaunee in Wisconsin, Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim in Massachusetts, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Fort Calhoun in Nebraska and Duane Arnold in Iowa. Switch on the Retired filter to see them. This layer covers closures recorded from about 2002 onward, so older decommissioned sites such as Zion, Trojan and Maine Yankee are not shown.

Are any new reactors being built?

Yes. Vogtle units 3 and 4 in Georgia came online in 2023 and 2024, the first newly built US reactors in decades, and they appear on the map as operating. Two announced projects are shown under the Planned filter: Kemmerer Unit 1 in Wyoming and Project Matador in Texas. Separately, Palisades in Michigan returned to service and Three Mile Island Unit 1 was recommissioned as the Crane Clean Energy Center, both of which show as operating.

Where does this data come from and how current is it?

Every plant location, capacity, operator and start year comes from Form EIA-860M, the Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It is a public domain federal dataset updated monthly. The release used for the current build is shown in the footer of the map, along with the date the dataset was compiled.

Why does the map not show reactor types like PWR or BWR?

Reactor type, docket numbers and licence expiry dates are held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rather than the EIA, and they are not part of the dataset behind this map. Rather than guess at those details we leave them out. For regulatory information about a specific plant, the NRC is the authoritative source.