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Darlington nuclear power plant

Darlington nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in Canada with 4 operating units totalling 3,736 MW gross. The site has 6 units on record in total.

Operating6Under construction1Retired1circle 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
6
Operating
4
Operating capacity
3,736MW
Country

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit 1 Operating PHWR CANDU 850 934 1992
Unit 2 Operating PHWR CANDU 850 934 1990
Unit 3 Operating PHWR CANDU 850 934 1993
Unit 4 Operating PHWR CANDU 850 934 1993
Unit 5 Cancelled PWR AP-1000 1,200 -
Unit 6 Cancelled PWR AP-1000 1,200 -

Darlington nuclear power plant in context

By gross operating capacity Darlington nuclear power plant is the 2nd largest of 4 operating nuclear sites in Canada, holding 28% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 31st of 172 worldwide.

Its operating units started up between 1990 and 1993; the median unit is 33.5 years old, younger than the median of 41.0 in Canada.

The 4 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 7.8 to 8.7 years (median 8.3) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1990s is 8.0 years.

The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Darlington New nuclear power plant (2 km), Pickering nuclear power plant (28 km) and Robert Emmett Ginna nuclear power plant (132 km).

4 operating units are rated differently now from their design net capacities: Unit 1 -0.3%, Unit 2 -0.3%, Unit 3 -0.3% and Unit 4 -0.3%.

Build time by unit

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit 2198119908.48.0 (1990s)
Unit 1198219908.78.0 (1990s)
Unit 3198419928.38.0 (1990s)
Unit 4198519937.88.0 (1990s)

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
LocationClarington, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates43.8697, -78.7239
Elevationabout 110 mabove sea level
SettingOn the shore of a large lake, 2.2 km from the water
RegionNorthern America
Units by status
Operating: 4
Cancelled: 2

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
Ontario Power Generation Inc
Operators
Ontario Power Generation

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Sources

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