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Chinon nuclear power plant

Chinon nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in France with 4 operating units totalling 3,816 MW gross. The site has 7 units on record in total.

Operating6circle 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
7
Operating
4
Operating capacity
3,816MW
Country

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit B-1 Operating PWR CP2 954 1984
Unit B-2 Operating PWR CP2 954 1984
Unit B-3 Operating PWR CP2 954 1987
Unit B-4 Operating PWR CP2 954 1988
Unit A-1 Retired GCR Uranium Naturel Graphite Gaz 80 1964
Unit A-2 Retired GCR Uranium Naturel Graphite Gaz 230 1965
Unit A-3 Retired GCR Uranium Naturel Graphite Gaz 480 1966

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.

Chinon nuclear power plant B-1 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP2
Size classLarge
Gross capacity954MW
Net capacity905MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Mar 1977
First criticality28 Oct 1982
Grid connection30 Nov 1982
Commercial operation1 Feb 1984

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Chinon nuclear power plant B-1

Chinon nuclear power plant B-2 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP2
Size classLarge
Gross capacity954MW
Net capacity905MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Mar 1977
First criticality23 Sep 1983
Grid connection29 Nov 1983
Commercial operation1 Aug 1984

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Chinon nuclear power plant B-2

Chinon nuclear power plant B-3 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP2
Size classLarge
Gross capacity954MW
Net capacity905MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Oct 1980
First criticality18 Sep 1986
Grid connection20 Oct 1986
Commercial operation4 Mar 1987

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Chinon nuclear power plant B-3

Chinon nuclear power plant B-4 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP2
Size classLarge
Gross capacity954MW
Net capacity905MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Feb 1981
First criticality13 Oct 1987
Grid connection14 Nov 1987
Commercial operation1 Apr 1988

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Chinon nuclear power plant B-4

Chinon nuclear power plant A-1 Retired

Reactor typeGas-cooled reactor (GCR)
ModelUranium Naturel Graphite Gaz
Size classSmall
Gross capacity80MW
Net capacity70MW
Thermal output300MWt
EnrichmentNatural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235no enrichment required
NSSS vendornot on record
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Feb 1957
First criticality16 Sep 1962
Grid connection14 Jun 1963
Commercial operation1 Feb 1964
Permanent shutdown16 Apr 1973

Chinon nuclear power plant A-2 Retired

Reactor typeGas-cooled reactor (GCR)
ModelUranium Naturel Graphite Gaz
Size classSmall
Gross capacity230MW
Net capacity180MW
Thermal output800MWt
EnrichmentNatural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235no enrichment required
NSSS vendornot on record
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Aug 1959
First criticality17 Aug 1964
Grid connection24 Feb 1965
Commercial operation24 Feb 1965
Permanent shutdown14 Jun 1985

Chinon nuclear power plant A-3 Retired

Reactor typeGas-cooled reactor (GCR)
ModelUranium Naturel Graphite Gaz
Size classLarge
Gross capacity480MW
Net capacity360MW
Thermal output1,170MWt
EnrichmentNatural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235no enrichment required
NSSS vendornot on record
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Mar 1961
First criticality1 Mar 1966
Grid connection4 Aug 1966
Commercial operation4 Aug 1966
Permanent shutdown15 Jun 1990

Chinon nuclear power plant in context

By gross operating capacity Chinon nuclear power plant is the 7th largest of 18 operating nuclear sites in France, holding 6% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 26th of 172 worldwide.

Its operating units started up between 1984 and 1988; the median unit is 40.5 years old, younger than the median of 41.0 in France.

The 7 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 5.4 to 6.8 years (median 6.1) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.

The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Civaux nuclear power plant (93 km), Saint-Laurent nuclear power plant (120 km) and Dampierre nuclear power plant (186 km).

2 operating units are rated differently now from their design net capacities: Unit B-1 +4.0% and Unit B-2 +4.0%.

Build time by unit

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit A-1195719636.45.0 (1960s)
Unit A-2195919655.65.0 (1960s)
Unit A-3196119665.45.0 (1960s)
Unit B-1197719825.77.3 (1980s)
Unit B-2197719836.77.3 (1980s)
Unit B-3198019866.17.3 (1980s)
Unit B-4198119876.87.3 (1980s)

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
LocationCentre-Val de Loire, France
Coordinates47.2254, 0.1656
Elevationabout 50 mabove sea level
SettingAbout 140 km from the sea
RegionWestern Europe
Units by status
Operating: 4
Retired: 3

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
Electricité de France SA
Operators
Electricité de France

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Sources

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