Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station (or Centrale nucléaire de Gentilly in French) is a Canadian nuclear power station located near Bécancour, Quebec. The facility derives its name from the Gentilly suburb of the city of Bécancour, in which it is located. It is around 100 km north east of Montreal.
The Gentilly site contains the only nuclear power reactors in Quebec (there is also a SLOWPOKE reactor at the École Polytechnique) and comprises two nuclear reactors (one CANDU-BWR prototype, now shut down, and one CANDU) located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The facility was constructed in stages between 1966–1983 by the Crown corporation, Hydro-Québec. Gentilly-1 is closed and in the decommissioning process, while Gentilly-2 is currently in operation. Gentilly-3 was halted during construction.
The Gentilly plants were originally part of a plan for 30-35 nuclear reactors in the province of Quebec.
On October 3, 2012, Hydro-Québec CEO, Thierry Vandal announced his intention not to proceed with the refurbishment of the Gentilly-2 facility and its closure at the end of 2012 for economic reasons. At that time, a decommissioning process will proceed over a period of 50 years and is expected to cost $1.8 billion and follows an election pledge from Quebec's newly appointed premier, Pauline Marois
Read more about Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station: Gentilly-1, Gentilly-2, Gentilly-3
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