Darlington Nuclear’s Unit 1 sets North American record during historic run
Unit 1 at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station just continues to break records.
On Thursday, July 9, the reactor set a new Canadian and North American nuclear record with an impressive 895 straight days and counting of consecutive operation. Pickering Nuclear’s Unit 7 held the previous record at 894 days.
Darlington’s Unit 1 has been online since Jan. 26, 2018, and has not needed to be taken out of service for maintenance or repair. That’s nearly two and a half years of continuous generation of clean, affordable, and reliable electricity for Ontario.
Late last year, the 878-megawatt (MW) unit set a generation record for the 3,512 MW station located in Clarington when it hit 688 days of consecutive operation on Dec. 15.
“Unit 1’s remarkable run is a reflection of the strong dedication and commitment of our employees to drive efficient and robust performance from our generating units for the benefit of all Ontarians,” said Sean Granville, OPG’s Chief Nuclear Officer. “This success story is a testament to the reliability of the Darlington station, which produces clean electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
“Unit 1’s remarkable run is a reflection of the strong dedication and commitment of our employees to drive efficient and robust performance from our generating units for the benefit of all Ontarians.”Sean Granville, OPG’s Chief Nuclear Officer
Over its history, Darlington’s three other units have also demonstrated a strong track record. Unit 3’s best run was set at 687 days, while Unit 4 previously set a high of 675 days and Unit 2 recorded 454 days of continuous operation.
The latter unit was recently brought back into service after undergoing a successful mid-life refurbishment to secure 30 more years of reliable, clean, low-cost power for the province. Unit 3 is next up in the Darlington Refurbishment project, with work set to start in September.
Aside from generating clean, affordable power, Darlington’s four reactors will also soon produce two life-saving medical isotopes, Cobalt-60 and Molybdenum-99. The former is used to sterilize single-use medical devices while the latter is used in medical diagnostics and imaging.
“This is more than a record. It’s clean, affordable, and reliable energy Ontarians can count on, and that’s what we strive for,” said Steve Gregoris, Senior Vice President of Darlington Nuclear. “During a year that has been challenging to say the least due to the ongoing pandemic, our employees have proven what we’re capable of and are laying a strong foundation for the station’s post-refurbishment future. I’m confident we will continue to break records and excel in operational and safety performance.”
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