The Pickering Nuclear Power Plant reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Pickering Nuclear Power Plant

The Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, located in Pickering, Ontario on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, is one of the world's largest nuclear generating facilities and consists of two generating stations, each having four CANDU (CANadian Deuterium Uranium) reactor units.

Opened in 1972, the plant ran until December 2002, when it was shut down for maintenance. CANDU reactors do not require much major maintenance, and minor maintenance can be done while the plant is operating.

The plant was also shut down on August 14, 2003, due to the widespread power blackout that affected much of the eastern seaboard of the United States and Southern Ontario.

The plant also has a very large wind turbine to the west of it, however, the wind generator provides a fraction of the power of the nuclear reactor, which, when operational, can produce upwards of 5000 Megawatts. The facility generates enough power to serve a city of two million people.

Approximately 30 km (19 miles) east of the Pickering plant is the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, in Bowmanville.

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