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| Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station | |
|---|---|
 The Gentilly-2 (left) and Gentilly-1 (right) nuclear generating stations | |
 | |
| Official name | Centrale nucléaire de Gentilly |
| Country | Canada |
| Location | Bécancour, Quebec |
| Coordinates | 46°23′45″N 72°21′25″W / 46.39583°N 72.35694°W |
| Status | safe storage (pools) pending dismantling |
| Construction began | 1973 |
| Commission date | October 1, 1983 |
| Decommission date | December 28, 2012 |
| Construction cost | CAD 1.3 billion |
| Owners | Hydro-Québec |
| Operators | Hydro-Québec |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | CANDU-BWR CANDU PHWR |
| Reactor supplier | Atomic Energy of Canada Limited |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | None |
| Units cancelled | 1 × 640 MW |
| Units decommissioned | 1 × 250 MW 1 × 675 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 925 MW |
| Capacity factor | 76.4% |
| Annual net output | 3,491 GW·h |
| External links | |
| Website | Hydro-Québec: Gentilly-2 |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station (Centrale nucléaire de Gentilly in French) is a former nuclear power station located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in Bécancour, Quebec, 100 km north east of Montreal. The site contained two nuclear reactors; Gentilly-1, a 250 MW CANDU-BWR prototype, was marred by technical problems and shut down in 1977, and Gentilly-2, a 675-MW CANDU-6 reactor operated commercially by the government-owned public utility Hydro-Québec between 1983 and 2012. These were the only power generating nuclear reactors in Quebec.[note 1]
The Gentilly reactors were constructed in stages between 1966 and 1983 and were originally part of a plan for 30-35 nuclear reactors in Quebec.[1][2] A third reactor, Gentilly-3, was scheduled to be built on the same site but was cancelled because of a drop in demand growth in the late 1970s.[3]
In October 2012, it was decided for economic reasons not to proceed with the refurbishment of Gentilly-2, and to decommission the power plant instead. The process will take approximately 50 years to complete.[4] In December of that same year, the remaining reactor was shut down and the decommissioning process started.[5]
In August 2023, Hydro-Québec reported it was assessing the state of the plant to determine whether or not the Gentilly-2 CANDU reactor could be recommissioned. This came as the province of Quebec looked towards options to increase its production of clean electricity.[6] It was decided to not proceed with recommissioning Gentilly-2 due to social acceptability issues.[7]
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Minister wants referendum on nuclear power plants". Calgary Herald. Canadian Press. 10 February 1977. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
- ^ Marie-Claude Fafard (15 September 2010). "Québec : le dangereux retour de l'énergie nucléaire ?". Afrique Expansion Magazine (in French). Archived from the original on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
- ^ Baril, Hélène (October 3, 2012). "Libéraux et péquistes, promoteurs du nucléaire au Québec". La Presse (in French). Montreal. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
- ^ Lapresse.ca. "Pauline Marois ferme Gentilly-2" (in French). Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- ^ Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (December 28, 2012). "Gentilly-2 nuclear plant shuts down after 29 years". CBC.ca. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
- ^ "Hydro-Québec mulls Gentilly 2 recommissioning : Corporate - World Nuclear News".
- ^ "Hydro-Québec to keep studying nuclear energy: CEO".