BWR-3
The BWR-3 is a Generation II boiling water reactor from GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy. 5 units are operating and 0 are under construction, out of 9 on record.
The generation that introduced jet pumps inside the vessel, letting a smaller external recirculation flow drive a much larger core flow. Dresden 2 and 3, Monticello and Quad Cities are BWR-3s. Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 was a BWR-3 in a Mark I containment, the combination whose failure mode was argued about for thirty years before it happened.
| Vendor | GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy |
|---|---|
| Reactor type | Boiling water reactor (BWR) |
| Generation | II |
| Capacity range | 600–1100 MWe gross |
| Also recorded as | BWR-3 (Mark 1)in the source tracker |
| Coolant | Light water |
| Typical enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| United States | 6 units, 5 operating |
|---|---|
| Japan | 2 units |
| Spain | 1 unit |
How long it took to build
Years from construction start to grid connection, for units with both dates on record. The median across 9 finished units is 4.3 years.
| Unit | Country | Started | Connected | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dresden nuclear power plant 2 | United States | 1966 | 1970 | 4.3 |
| Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 1 | Japan | 1967 | 1970 | 3.3 |
| Santa Maria De Garona nuclear power plant | Spain | 1966 | 1971 | 4.5 |
| Monticello nuclear power plant | United States | 1967 | 1971 | 3.7 |
| Dresden nuclear power plant 3 | United States | 1966 | 1971 | 4.8 |
| Quad Cities nuclear power plant 1 | United States | 1967 | 1972 | 5.2 |
| Quad Cities nuclear power plant 2 | United States | 1967 | 1972 | 5.3 |
| Pilgrim nuclear power plant 1 | United States | 1968 | 1972 | 3.9 |
| Shimane nuclear power plant 1 | Japan | 1970 | 1973 | 3.4 |
All BWR-3 units
| Unit | Country | Status | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dresden nuclear power plant 2 | United States | 950 | 1970 | |
| Dresden nuclear power plant 3 | United States | 935 | 1971 | |
| Monticello nuclear power plant | United States | 691 | 1971 | |
| Quad Cities nuclear power plant 1 | United States | 940 | 1973 | |
| Quad Cities nuclear power plant 2 | United States | 940 | 1973 | |
| Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 1 | Japan | Retired | 460 | 1971 |
| Pilgrim nuclear power plant 1 | United States | Retired | 711 | 1972 |
| Santa Maria De Garona nuclear power plant | Spain | Retired | 466 | 1971 |
| Shimane nuclear power plant 1 | Japan | Retired | 460 | 1974 |
Sources
- BWR-3, vendor documentation
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data