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Point Lepreau nuclear power plant

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in Canada with 1 operating unit totalling 705 MW gross. The site has 4 units on record in total.

Operating1Retired1circle 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
4
Operating
1
Operating capacity
705MW
Country

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit 1 Operating PHWR CANDU 6 705 1983
Unit 2 Cancelled - - 1,100 -
Unit SMR 1 Pre-construction - ARC-100 100 2029
Unit SMR 2 Announced MSR SSR-W 300 2030

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.

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant 1 Operating

Reactor typePressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR)
ModelCANDU 6
Size classLarge
Gross capacity705MW
Net capacity660MW
Thermal output2,180MWt
EnrichmentNatural uranium, 0.71% U-235no enrichment required
NSSS vendorAtkinsRéalis (Candu Energy)
Planned retirement2040planned, not actual
OwnerNew Brunswick Electric Power Commission100%
OperatorNew Brunswick Electric Power Commission
Construction start1 May 1975
First criticality25 Jul 1982
Grid connection11 Sep 1982
Commercial operation1 Feb 1983

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant 2 Cancelled

Reactor typenot disclosed
Modelnot disclosed
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,100MW
Net capacitynot disclosed
Thermal outputnot disclosed
Enrichmentnot established
NSSS vendornot on record
Cancelled2012
OwnerNB Power100%
Milestonesno dates on record

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant SMR 1 Pre-construction

Reactor typesmall modular reactor
ModelARC-100
Size classSmall
Gross capacity100MW
Net capacitynot disclosed
Thermal outputnot disclosed
Enrichmentnot established
NSSS vendornot on record
OwnerNB Power100%
Commercial operation1 Jan 2029

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant SMR 2 Announced

Reactor typeMolten salt reactor (MSR)
ModelSSR-W
Size classSmall
Gross capacity300MW
Net capacitynot disclosed
Thermal outputnot disclosed
Enrichment5–20% U-235, often HALEU
NSSS vendornot on record
OwnerGovernment of New Brunswick
NB Power
OperatorNB Power
Commercial operation1 Jan 2030

Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in context

By gross operating capacity Point Lepreau nuclear power plant is the 4th largest of 4 operating nuclear sites in Canada, holding 5% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 163rd of 172 worldwide.

Its operating unit started up in 1983; the unit is 43.0 years old, older than the median of 41.0 in Canada.

The one unit with both construction and grid dates on record took 7.4 years from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.

No other nuclear site with an exact position in this dataset lies within 300 km.

The tracker lists a planned retirement year, a forecast and not a decision on record, for 1 operating unit: Unit 1 (2040).

Build time by unit

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit 1197519827.47.3 (1980s)

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
LocationNew Brunswick, Canada
Coordinates45.0686, -66.4543
Elevationabout 25 mabove sea level
SettingOn the sea coast, 0.9 km from the water
RegionNorthern America
Units by status
Operating: 1
Cancelled: 1
Pre-construction: 1
Announced: 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
New Brunswick Electric Power Commission
NB Power
Government of New Brunswick
Operators
New Brunswick Electric Power Commission
NB Power

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Sources

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