Where are nuclear reactors located in Canada?

Nuclear energy is a major part of the Canadian landscape from coast to coast. Nuclear power stations operate in Ontario and New Brunswick. Uranium mining, refining and fuel fabrication steps are completed in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

What is the closest nuclear plant to Toronto?

Pickering Nuclear Generating Station
Located in Pickering, Ontario (just east of Toronto), Ontario Power Generation’s Pickering Nuclear Generating Station (GS) is one of the largest nuclear stations in the world and has been safely and reliably providing Ontario with power for decades.

Where are most of the reactors located?

Most U.S. commercial nuclear power reactors are located east of the Mississippi River. Illinois has more reactors than any state (11 reactors at 6 plants), and at the end of 2020, it had the largest total nuclear net summer electricity generation capacity at about 11,582 megawatts (MW).

How many nuclear generating stations are located in Ontario?

Ontario currently has 16 nuclear units in operation. These reactors amount to 11,400 MW of generation capacity and are located at three sites. The stations were constructed by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro.

How many nuclear power plants are in Canada?

Four active nuclear power plants are in operation in Canada, with 19 operating nuclear reactors (Figure 4). Three plants are located in Ontario and one in New Brunswick . Quebec is the only other province to have used nuclear generation.

What types of nuclear reactors are currently in use?

Thermal neutron reactors (the most common type of nuclear reactor) use slowed or thermal neutrons to keep up the fission of their fuel. Almost all current reactors are of this type.

What is inside a nuclear reactor?

Inside the core of a typical pressurized water reactor or boiling water reactor are nuclear fuel rods equivalent to the diameter of a large gel type ink-pen, each about 4 m long, which are grouped by the hundreds in bundles called “fuel assemblies”. Inside each fuel rod, pellets of uranium, or more commonly uranium oxide, are stacked end to end.

How big is a nuclear reactor?

In the most common reactors these are about 4 metres long . A BWR fuel assembly may be about 320 kg, a PWR one 655 kg, in which case they hold 183 kg uranium and 460 kgU respectively. In both, about 100 kg of zircaloy is involved.