Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station
| Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station | |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Location | Kincardine, Bruce County, Ontario |
| Coordinates | 44°19′36″N 81°36′00″W / 44.32667°N 81.60000°WCoordinates: 44°19′36″N 81°36′00″W / 44.32667°N 81.60000°W |
| Status | Decommissioned |
| Commission date | 1968 |
| Decommission date | 1984 |
| Owner(s) | Atomic Energy of Canada Limited |
| Operator(s) | Ontario Hydro |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | CANDU |
| Power generation | |
| Units decommissioned | 1 × 220 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 220 MW |
| Capacity factor | 54% |
The Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station was Canada’s first full-scale nuclear power plant and the second CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) pressurised heavy water reactor. Its success was a major milestone and marked Canada's entry into the global nuclear power scene.
Douglas Point was built and owned by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) but operated by Ontario Hydro. It was in service from 26 September 1968 to 5 May 1984.
The plant served as a teaching tool for the emerging Canadian nuclear industry, and the experience gained was applied to the later CANDU power plants.
The first CANDU was a demonstration unit, the Nuclear Power Demonstrator (NPD). In 1958, before NPD was complete, AECL formed the Nuclear Power Plant Division at Ontario Hydro’s A.W. Manby Service Centre in Toronto to manage the construction of a full-scale prototype for future CANDU commercial power plants. Ontario Hydro would operate the prototype.
The plant would have a 200 MWe reactor and be built in Ontario. The reactor's stainless steel calandria would mass 54.4 tonne (60 ton) and have a 6.1 metres (20 ft) diameter. The design was compact to reduce the required amount of heavy water moderator; the reactor required several tons of heavy water, which was very expensive at $26 per pound.
Sites along Lake Huron on the shoreline north of Manitoulin Island and along the shoreline from Tobermory to Goderich were considered. Low-lying Douglas Point, within the latter area, was chosen by the end of June 1959; its solid limestone base made it ideal. The Hydro Electric Power Commission acquired a 9.31 square kilometres (2,301 acres) area at the site for $50 to $70 an acre, the going price of farm land at the time.
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