Skip to content

Beznau nuclear power plant

Beznau nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in Switzerland with 2 operating units totalling 760 MW gross. The site has 3 units on record in total.

Operating3Retired4circle area ∝ site capacity Coastlines, borders and lakes: Natural Earth (1:10 million, public domain), which is generalised, so a coastal plant can sit a couple of kilometres off its true shoreline. Site positions: Global Nuclear Power Tracker.
Units on record
3
Operating
2
Operating capacity
760MW

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit 1 Operating PWR WH 2LP 380 1969
Unit 2 Operating PWR WH 2LP 380 1972
Unit 3 Cancelled - - 1,600 -

Unit by unit

Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.

Beznau nuclear power plant 1 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 2-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity380MW
Net capacity365MW
Thermal output1,130MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
OwnerKernkraftwerk Beznau Ch-5312 Döttingen100%
OperatorKernkraftwerk Beznau Ch-5312 Döttingen
Construction start1 Sep 1965
First criticality30 Jun 1969
Grid connection17 Jul 1969
Commercial operation9 Dec 1969

Beznau nuclear power plant 2 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 2-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity380MW
Net capacity365MW
Thermal output1,130MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
OwnerKernkraftwerk Beznau Ch-5312 Döttingen100%
OperatorKernkraftwerk Beznau Ch-5312 Döttingen
Construction start1 Jan 1968
First criticality16 Oct 1971
Grid connection23 Oct 1971
Commercial operation4 Mar 1972

Beznau nuclear power plant 3 Cancelled

Reactor typenot disclosed
Modelnot disclosed
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,600MW
Net capacitynot disclosed
Thermal outputnot disclosed
Enrichmentnot established
NSSS vendornot on record
Cancelled2011
Milestonesno dates on record

Beznau nuclear power plant in context

By gross operating capacity Beznau nuclear power plant is the 3rd largest of 3 operating nuclear sites in Switzerland, holding 25% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 161st of 172 worldwide.

Its operating units started up between 1969 and 1972; the median unit is 55.5 years old, older than the median of 50.5 in Switzerland.

The 2 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 3.8 to 3.9 years (median 3.8) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1970s is 5.4 years.

The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Leibstadt nuclear power plant (6 km), Goesgen nuclear power plant (28 km) and Cattenom nuclear power plant (255 km).

2 operating units are rated differently now from their design net capacities: Unit 1 +4.3% and Unit 2 +4.3%.

Build time by unit

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit 1196519693.95.0 (1960s)
Unit 2196819713.85.4 (1970s)

Nearest tracked nuclear sites

How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.

Site detail
LocationAargau, Switzerland
Coordinates47.5520, 8.2281
Elevationabout 335 mabove sea level
SettingAbout 350 km from the sea
RegionWestern Europe
Units by status
Operating: 2
Cancelled: 1

Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.

Owners & operators
Owners
Kernkraftwerk Beznau Ch-5312 Döttingen
Operators
Kernkraftwerk Beznau Ch-5312 Döttingen

Put this plant on your own page: embed a card, or compare it with another plant.

Sources

How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data

Try

Searches every page: 1,823 reactors, 592 plants, 158 fuel chain facilities, companies, designs, accidents and notes.