Pickering Nuclear Generating Station

Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Pickering, Ontario. The facility derives its name from the City (originally Township) of Pickering in which it is located. It produces about 14% of Ontario's power and employs 3,000 workers.Co-located at the Pickering station is a single 1.8 MWe wind turbine named the OPG 7 commemorative turbine.Reactor classificationThe reactors can be classified as follows:PICKERING A PICKERING A 1 PICKERING A 2 (Safe Shutdown state, defuelled) PICKERING A 3 (Safe Shutdown state, defuelled) PICKERING A 4 PICKERING B PICKERING B 5 PICKERING B 6 PICKERING B 7 PICKERING B 8ConstructionThe facility was constructed in stages between 1966 and 1986 by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro. In April 1999, Ontario Hydro was split into five component Crown corporations with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) taking over all electricity generating stations. OPG continues to operate the Pickering station.The Pickering station is one of the largest nuclear facilities in the world, comprising six operating CANDU nuclear reactors with a total output of 3,100 MW when all units are on line, and two non-operating units currently shut down in safe storage. The facility is connected to the North American power grid via numerous 230,000 and 500,000-volt transmission lines.