Pathfinder nuclear power plant
Gross capacity
63MW
Pathfinder nuclear power plant is a boiling water reactor unit at Pathfinder nuclear power plant in United States rated at 63 MW gross. It is retired. Commercial operation began 1 Aug 1966.
Specification
| Reactor type | Boiling water reactor (BWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Prototype |
| Size | Small300 MWe or less |
| Coolant | Light water |
| Moderator | Light water |
| Gross capacity | 63MW |
| Net capacity (reference) | 59MW |
| Net capacity (design) | 59MW |
| Thermal output | 220MWt |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Typical enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
Ownership & location
| Site | Pathfinder nuclear power plant |
|---|---|
| Unit | not stated |
| Country | United States |
| Owner | Xcel Energy Inc100% |
| Operator | Nuclear Management |
| Coordinates | 43.6036, -96.6375 |
Fuel chain for this unit
Fuel form
Uranium dioxide pellets in zirconium-alloy cladding
Enrichment
3–5% U-235
Who makes this assembly
- Framatome BWR fuel assemblies
- Global Nuclear Fuel BWR fuel assemblies
- Westinghouse Electric Company BWR fuel assemblies
Upstream
Enriched fuel means this unit sits downstream of five conversion plants and four enrichment operators holding 88% of world capacity between the top three.
Fabricator capability is recorded against reactor type and model line, not against named units,
utilities do not publish fuel contracts. See the fuel chain.
Timeline
- 1 Jan 1959Construction start
- 1 Jan 1964First criticality
- 25 Jul 1966Grid connection
- 1 Aug 1966Commercial operation
- 1 Oct 1967Permanent shutdown
Other Prototype units
5 units worldwide share this model designation.
| Unit | Country | Status | Gross MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR3 nuclear power plant 3 | Belgium | Retired | 12 |
| Carolinas-Virginia Tube Reactor nuclear power plant | United States | Retired | 19 |
| KNK II nuclear power plant | Germany | Retired | 21 |
| Kalpakkam nuclear power plant PFBR | India | Under construction | 500 |
Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06 · this unit last researched by GEM on 2024-05-29
- 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