Lucens nuclear power plant
Lucens nuclear power plant is a nuclear site in Switzerland with 1 unit on record. None is currently operating.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucens nuclear power plant | Retired | PHWR | HWGCR: 2-loops | 7 | 1968 |
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.
Lucens nuclear power plant Retired
GNPT records commercial operation as 1 January 1968, a placeholder that falls before the unit's grid connection on 29 January 1968. The IAEA PRIS record lists no commercial-operation date for this experimental reactor, and gives its permanent shutdown, after the accident, on 21 January 1969 where GNPT has 1 January 1969.
commercial_operation:
1968-01-01 →
· World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Reactor Database, Lucens (data credited to IAEA PRIS)
· verified 2026-10-28
GNPT records commercial operation as 1 January 1968, a placeholder that falls before the unit's grid connection on 29 January 1968. The IAEA PRIS record lists no commercial-operation date for this experimental reactor, and gives its permanent shutdown, after the accident, on 21 January 1969 where GNPT has 1 January 1969.
permanent_shutdown:
1969-01-01 → 1969-01-21
· World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Reactor Database, Lucens (data credited to IAEA PRIS)
· verified 2026-10-28
| Reactor type | Pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | HWGCR: 2-loops |
| Size class | Very small |
| Gross capacity | 7MW |
| Net capacity | 6MW |
| Thermal output | 28MWt |
| Enrichment | Natural uranium, 0.71% U-235no enrichment required |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Nationale Gesellschaft Zur Förderung Der Industriellen Atomtechnik100% |
| Operator | Energie De L'Ouest Suisse |
| Construction start | 1 Apr 1962 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 29 Dec 1966 |
| Grid connection | 29 Jan 1968 |
| Permanent shutdown | 21 Jan 1969 |
Accident on record: Lucens, 1969-01-21, INES level 4, accident with local consequences.
Lucens nuclear power plant in context
The one unit with both construction and grid dates on record took 5.8 years from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1960s is 5.0 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Goesgen nuclear power plant (114 km), Beznau nuclear power plant (143 km) and Leibstadt nuclear power plant (144 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucens nuclear power plant | 1962 | 1968 | 5.8 | 5.0 (1960s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goesgen nuclear power plant | Switzerland | 114 km | 1.1 |
| Beznau nuclear power plant | Switzerland | 143 km | 0.8 |
| Leibstadt nuclear power plant | Switzerland | 144 km | 1.3 |
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.
| Location | Vaud, Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 46.6927, 6.8272 |
| Elevation | about 515 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 290 km from the sea |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Units by status | Retired: 1 |
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 | Nationale Gesellschaft Zur Förderung Der Industriellen Atomtechnik |
|---|---|
| Operators | Energie De L'Ouest Suisse |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data