"We are not looking for a bailout," Mr. Stoermer said.

Exelon Corp. owns and operates 11 reactors at six nuclear energy facilities in Illinois, which provide 48 percent of Illinois' electricity and about 90 percent of the state's carbon-free electricity. The facilities in Illinois spark $8.9 billion in direct and secondary output, officials said.

The station in Cordova has an economic impact of $1.4 billion in total output, employs roughly 900 people and paid $7.4 million in property taxes this year -- more than half of which went to the Erie School District.

Mr. Myers said people tend to take the economic impact of nuclear facilities for granted.

"When they do go away, if they go away, the impact is pretty large," Mr. Stoermer said. "These facilities are real economic engines for the community and counties in which they operate."

The three plants under review provide electricity to about three million homes. Mr. Myers said if they were shut down, the energy needed for those homes would come from somewhere, but likely would cost more and be generated from a source producing more carbon emissions.