It takes about 50,000 gallons of water a minute to cool the nuclear reactors.

The Exelon Nuclear Power Station near Byron, Illinois is part of an electrical grid of power that spans 13 states from here to the East Coast and gives northern Illinois residents and businesses access to 165,000 megawatts of power. One megawatt typically powers about 500 homes with air conditioning.
Nuclear power plants generate about 20 percent of the nation’s electrical use.