German, Canadian reactors set new world records : Corporate

08 February 2021

The single-unit Grohnde nuclear power plant in Germany has produced more than 400 terawatt hours of electricity since it started up in 1984 – the only reactor to have achieved this milestone. Meanwhile, unit 1 of Canada’s Darlington nuclear power plant has set a new world record with 1106 consecutive days of continuous operation.

Grohnde (Image: PreussenElektra)

The 1360 MWe German pressurised water reactor reached the production milestone at 11.00pm on 7 February, PreussenElektra announced today.

Grohnde was first synchronised to the grid on 5 September 1984. It has since been the leading reactor in terms of annual power generation a total of eight times and has had an average availability factor of almost 92%. The plant currently accounts for about 12% of electricity generation in the Lower Saxony region of Germany. PreussenElektra noted that in recent years Grohnde has increasingly served as a standby plant at the request…