Marcoule nuclear power plant
Marcoule nuclear power plant is a nuclear site in France with 4 units on record. None is currently operating.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit Astrid 1 | Cancelled | FBR | ASTRID | 600 | - |
| Unit G1 | Retired | - | - | 7 | 1956 |
| Unit G2 | Retired | GCR | - | 43 | 1959 |
| Unit G3 | Retired | GCR | - | 43 | 1960 |
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.
Marcoule nuclear power plant Astrid 1 Cancelled
| Reactor type | Fast reactor (FBR) |
|---|---|
| Model | ASTRID |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 600MW |
| Net capacity | not disclosed |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Enrichment | 15–20% fissile, or plutonium |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Cancelled | 2019 |
| Owner | Commissariat À L'Energie Atomique100% |
| Milestones | no dates on record |
|---|
Marcoule nuclear power plant G1 Retired
| Reactor type | not disclosed |
|---|---|
| Model | not disclosed |
| Size class | Very small |
| Gross capacity | 7MW |
| Net capacity | not disclosed |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Enrichment | not established |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Commissariat À L'Energie Atomique100% |
| Construction start | 1 Jan 1955 |
|---|---|
| Grid connection | 1 Jan 1956 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Jan 1956 |
| Permanent shutdown | 1 Jan 1968 |
Marcoule nuclear power plant G2 Retired
| Reactor type | Gas-cooled reactor (GCR) |
|---|---|
| Model | not disclosed |
| Size class | Small |
| Gross capacity | 43MW |
| Net capacity | 39MW |
| Thermal output | 260MWt |
| Enrichment | Natural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235no enrichment required |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Commissariat À L'Energie Atomique100% |
| Operator | Compagnie Generale Des Matieres Nucleaires |
| Construction start | 1 Mar 1955 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 21 Jul 1958 |
| Grid connection | 22 Apr 1959 |
| Commercial operation | 22 Apr 1959 |
| Permanent shutdown | 2 Feb 1980 |
Marcoule nuclear power plant G3 Retired
| Reactor type | Gas-cooled reactor (GCR) |
|---|---|
| Model | not disclosed |
| Size class | Small |
| Gross capacity | 43MW |
| Net capacity | 40MW |
| Thermal output | 260MWt |
| Enrichment | Natural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235no enrichment required |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Commissariat À L'Energie Atomique100% |
| Operator | Compagnie Generale Des Matieres Nucleaires |
| Construction start | 1 Mar 1956 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 11 Jun 1959 |
| Grid connection | 4 Apr 1960 |
| Commercial operation | 4 Apr 1960 |
| Permanent shutdown | 20 Jun 1984 |
Marcoule nuclear power plant in context
The 3 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 1.0 to 4.1 years (median 4.1) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1950s is 3.5 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Tricastin nuclear power plant (21 km), Cruas nuclear power plant (55 km) and St. Alban nuclear power plant (140 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit G1 | 1955 | 1956 | 1.0 | 3.5 (1950s) |
| Unit G2 | 1955 | 1959 | 4.1 | 3.5 (1950s) |
| Unit G3 | 1956 | 1960 | 4.1 | 5.0 (1960s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tricastin nuclear power plant | France | 21 km | 3.8 |
| Cruas nuclear power plant | France | 55 km | 3.8 |
| St. Alban nuclear power plant | France | 140 km | 2.8 |
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 | Occitanie, France |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 44.1433, 4.7094 |
| Elevation | about 45 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 60 km from the sea |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Units by status | Cancelled: 1 Retired: 3 |
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 | Commissariat À L'Energie Atomique |
|---|---|
| Operators | Compagnie Generale Des Matieres Nucleaires |
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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