SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has granted Exelon Generation’s Dresden Station a provisional variance from certain temperature limits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued to the facility, due to unseasonably warm weather conditions, low water flow and lack of precipitation.

These conditions coupled with high demand for electricity, necessitated the provisional variance. Dresden Station is a nuclear-fueled steam electric generating facility located at the confluence of the DesPlaines and Kankakee Rivers near Morris. Circulating water used to cool and condense steam from the generating process is ultimately discharged into a cooling pond and then to the Illinois River. It does not come into contact with any radioactive components and does not have any impact on radiation risk.