The prototype Candu unit in Quebec was permanently shut down in 1977
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) said it has removed a “significant nuclear liability” from the Gentilly nuclear power site in Quebec by transferring all used nuclear fuel from the Gentilly-1 waste management facility to Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario.
CNL, a state body, said the project had been completed ahead of schedule, clearing the way for the next steps in the decommissioning and environmental remediation of the facility.
CNL undertook the work on behalf of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the federal corporation that has contracted CNL to manage and operate its sites and facilities across the country.
The fuel is now securely stored in modern purpose-built canisters at the Chalk River Laboratories, where it will remain until the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) planned long-term deep geological disposal facility for used nuclear fuel becomes available.
Last year NWMO said it had chosen a site in northern Ontario for the planned repository following a 14-year selection process.
Gentilly-1, a 250 MW prototype Candu boiling water reactor, began commercial operation in May 1972 and was permanently shut down in 1977.
A second unit at the site, Gentilly-2, is a 635-MW Candu 6 pressurised heavy water reactor. It began commercial operation in 1983 and was shut down in 2012.
Gentilly is in Becancour, Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River about half way between Montreal and Quebec City.
In 2023, public power utility Hydro-Quebec, which owns Gentilly-2, said it would study the possible restart of the plant as a response to a growing demand for clean energy.
Hydro-Quebec said in a statement at the time: “Concerning Gentilly-2, an assessment of the plant’s current condition is underway, in order to evaluate our options and inform our thinking about Quebec’s future energy supply.”
