Bruce nuclear power plant
Bruce nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in Canada with 8 operating units totalling 6,944 MW gross. The site has 12 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit A1 | PHWR | CANDU 791 | 868 | 1977 | |
| Unit A2 | PHWR | CANDU 791 | 836 | 1977 | |
| Unit A3 | PHWR | CANDU 750A | 865 | 1978 | |
| Unit A4 | PHWR | CANDU 750A | 868 | 1979 | |
| Unit B5 | PHWR | CANDU 750B | 872 | 1985 | |
| Unit B6 | PHWR | CANDU 750B | 891 | 1984 | |
| Unit B7 | PHWR | CANDU 750B | 872 | 1986 | |
| Unit B8 | PHWR | CANDU 750B | 872 | 1987 | |
| Unit C1 | Announced | - | - | 1,000 | - |
| Unit C2 | Announced | - | - | 1,000 | - |
| Unit C3 | Announced | - | - | 1,000 | - |
| Unit C4 | Announced | - | - | 1,000 | - |
Bruce nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Bruce nuclear power plant is the 1st largest of 4 operating nuclear sites in Canada, holding 51% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 1st of 172 worldwide.
Its operating units started up between 1977 and 1987; the median unit is 44.5 years old, older than the median of 41.0 in Canada.
The 8 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 5.4 to 7.6 years (median 6.4) 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 Pickering nuclear power plant (209 km), Darlington nuclear power plant (234 km) and Darlington New nuclear power plant (235 km).
8 operating units are rated differently now from their design net capacities: Unit A1 +5.7%, Unit A2 +6.1%, Unit A3 +2.7%, Unit A4 +2.5%, Unit B5 -0.6%, Unit B6 -0.6%, Unit B7 -0.6% and Unit B8 +2.8%.
The tracker lists a planned retirement year, a forecast and not a decision on record, for 8 operating units: Unit A1 (2042), Unit A2 (2043), Unit A3 (2064), Unit A4 (2064), Unit B5 (2064), Unit B6 (2064), Unit B7 (2064) and Unit B8 (2064).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit A2 | 1970 | 1976 | 5.8 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit A1 | 1971 | 1977 | 5.6 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit A3 | 1972 | 1977 | 5.4 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit A4 | 1972 | 1978 | 6.3 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit B6 | 1978 | 1984 | 6.5 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit B5 | 1978 | 1984 | 6.5 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit B7 | 1979 | 1986 | 6.8 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit B8 | 1979 | 1987 | 7.6 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering nuclear power plant | Canada | 209 km | 2.2 |
| Darlington nuclear power plant | Canada | 234 km | 3.7 |
| Darlington New nuclear power plant | Canada | 235 km | - |
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.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Bruce nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Ontario, Canada |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 44.3391, -81.5747 |
| Elevation | about 190 mabove sea level |
| Setting | On the shore of a large lake, 0.7 km from the water |
| Region | Northern America |
| Units by status | Operating: 8 Announced: 4 |
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 | Ontario Power Generation Inc |
|---|---|
| Operators | Bruce Power |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data