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Blayais nuclear power plant

Blayais nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in France with 4 operating units totalling 3,804 MW gross. The site has 4 units on record in total.

Operating3circle area ∝ site capacity Coastlines, borders and lakes: Natural Earth (1:10 million, public domain), which is generalised, so a coastal plant can sit a couple of kilometres off its true shoreline. Site positions: Global Nuclear Power Tracker.
Units on record
4
Operating
4
Operating capacity
3,804MW
Country

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit 1 Operating PWR CP1 951 1981
Unit 2 Operating PWR CP1 951 1983
Unit 3 Operating PWR CP1 951 1983
Unit 4 Operating PWR CP1 951 1983

Unit by unit

Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.

Blayais nuclear power plant 1 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP1
Size classLarge
Gross capacity951MW
Net capacity910MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Jan 1977
First criticality20 May 1981
Grid connection12 Jun 1981
Commercial operation1 Dec 1981

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Blayais nuclear power plant 1

Blayais nuclear power plant 2 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP1
Size classLarge
Gross capacity951MW
Net capacity910MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Jan 1977
First criticality28 Jun 1982
Grid connection17 Jul 1982
Commercial operation1 Feb 1983

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Blayais nuclear power plant 2

Blayais nuclear power plant 3 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP1
Size classLarge
Gross capacity951MW
Net capacity910MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Apr 1978
First criticality29 Jul 1983
Grid connection17 Aug 1983
Commercial operation14 Nov 1983

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Blayais nuclear power plant 3

Blayais nuclear power plant 4 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelCP1
Size classLarge
Gross capacity951MW
Net capacity910MW
Thermal output2,785MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorFramatome
OwnerElectricité de France SA100%
OperatorElectricité de France
Construction start1 Apr 1978
First criticality1 May 1983
Grid connection16 May 1983
Commercial operation1 Oct 1983

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Blayais nuclear power plant 4

Blayais nuclear power plant in context

By gross operating capacity Blayais nuclear power plant is the 8th largest of 18 operating nuclear sites in France, holding 6% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 27th of 172 worldwide.

Its operating units started up between 1981 and 1983; the median unit is 43.0 years old, older than the median of 41.0 in France.

The 4 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 4.4 to 5.5 years (median 5.2) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.

The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Civaux nuclear power plant (170 km), Golfech nuclear power plant (176 km) and Chinon nuclear power plant (229 km).

Build time by unit

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit 1197719814.47.3 (1980s)
Unit 2197719825.57.3 (1980s)
Unit 4197819835.17.3 (1980s)
Unit 3197819835.47.3 (1980s)

Nearest tracked nuclear sites

How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.

Site detail
LocationNouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Coordinates45.2560, -0.6932
Elevationabout 5 mabove sea level
SettingOn the sea coast
RegionWestern Europe
Units by status
Operating: 4

Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.

Owners & operators
Owners
Electricité de France SA
Operators
Electricité de France

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Sources

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