Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station
Encyclopedia
Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station (or Centrale nucléaire de Gentilly in French) is a Canadian
nuclear power station located near Bécancour
, Quebec
. The facility derives its name from the Gentilly suburb of the city of Bécancour, in which it is located. It is around 100 km north east of Montreal.
The Gentilly site contains the only power reactors in Quebec (there is also a SLOWPOKE reactor
at the Ecole Polytechnique
) and comprises two nuclear reactor
s (one CANDU-BWR prototype, now decommissioned, and one CANDU) located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The facility was constructed in stages between 1966–1983 by the provincial Crown corporation, Hydro-Québec
. Gentilly-1 is closed and in the decommissioning process, while Gentilly-2 is currently in operation.
design. It was designed for a net output of 250MW(e). The reactor had several features unique amongst CANDU reactors, including vertically-oriented pressure tubes (allowing for the use of a single fuelling machine below the core), and light-water coolant. These features were intended to reduce the cost and complexity of the unit, again to make it an attractive export unit. However, the design was not successful, and over nearly 7 years recorded only 180 on-power days. Gentilly-1 is no longer in operation.
. The CANDU 6 is a successful reactor type, and has been exported to South Korea
, Argentina
, Romania
and China
. The plant has a net output of 675MW(e). Unlike the adjacent Gentilly-1 reactor, Gentilly-2 has had a good service record since start-up in 1982, with a cumulative operating factor of 79.53%, and is due to shut down for refurbishment sometime around 2012.
On August 19, 2008, Quebec announced that it will spend $1.9B to overhaul Gentilly-2 that should extend its lifespan to 2040.
The G-2 site also houses a 381MW gas turbine
generation plant.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
nuclear power station located near Bécancour
Bécancour, Quebec
Bécancour is a town in the Centre-du-Québec region of Québec, Canada; it is the seat of the Bécancour Regional County Municipality. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Bécancour River, opposite Trois-Rivières.Wôlinak, an Abenaki Indian reserve, is...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The facility derives its name from the Gentilly suburb of the city of Bécancour, in which it is located. It is around 100 km north east of Montreal.
The Gentilly site contains the only power reactors in Quebec (there is also a SLOWPOKE reactor
SLOWPOKE reactor
The SLOWPOKE is a low-energy, pool-type nuclear research reactor designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in the late 1960s. John W. Hilborn is the scientist most closely associated with its design...
at the Ecole Polytechnique
École Polytechnique de Montréal
The École Polytechnique de Montréal is an engineering school/faculty affiliated with the University of Montreal in Montreal, Canada. It ranks first in Canada for the scope of its engineering research. It is occasionally referred to as Montreal Polytechnic, although in Quebec English its French...
) and comprises two nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s (one CANDU-BWR prototype, now decommissioned, and one CANDU) located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The facility was constructed in stages between 1966–1983 by the provincial Crown corporation, Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
. Gentilly-1 is closed and in the decommissioning process, while Gentilly-2 is currently in operation.
Gentilly-1
Gentilly-1 was a prototype CANDU-BWR reactor, based on the SGHWRSGHWR
Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor is a pressure tube type, heavy water moderated, light water cooled nuclear reactor. The steam generating heavy water reactor is in principle the same as a BWR but relies on a special heavy water material as the moderator whilst using conventional water as the...
design. It was designed for a net output of 250MW(e). The reactor had several features unique amongst CANDU reactors, including vertically-oriented pressure tubes (allowing for the use of a single fuelling machine below the core), and light-water coolant. These features were intended to reduce the cost and complexity of the unit, again to make it an attractive export unit. However, the design was not successful, and over nearly 7 years recorded only 180 on-power days. Gentilly-1 is no longer in operation.
Gentilly-2
Gentilly-2 is a standard CANDU 6 reactor, similar to the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating StationPoint Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station
Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located 2 km northeast of Point Lepreau, New Brunswick. The facility was constructed between 1975-1983 by NB Power, the provincially-owned public utility....
. The CANDU 6 is a successful reactor type, and has been exported to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The plant has a net output of 675MW(e). Unlike the adjacent Gentilly-1 reactor, Gentilly-2 has had a good service record since start-up in 1982, with a cumulative operating factor of 79.53%, and is due to shut down for refurbishment sometime around 2012.
On August 19, 2008, Quebec announced that it will spend $1.9B to overhaul Gentilly-2 that should extend its lifespan to 2040.
The G-2 site also houses a 381MW gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
generation plant.