Chalk River nuclear power plant — Canada

Chalk River nuclear power plant is a 5 MW nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada. It ranks #977 of 1,210 Canada power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 13.1% of Canada's electricity; the national grid averages 191 gCO₂/kWh (77.0% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_chalkriver_canad.

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: GEM Global Nuclear Power Tracker September 2025 unit-status sum (shelved); fuel: GEM GNPT

In context: how this plant compares

At 5 MW, Chalk River nuclear power plant is below the median nuclear plant in Canada (941 MW). Technically it is described as microreactor. Its current lifecycle status is “Shelved” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #13 largest nuclear power plant of 15 in Canada by capacity.

Canada has 15 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 20,406 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD) nuclear power plant · Nuclear · 25 MW · Quebec
• Des-Joachims · Hydro · 429 MW · Ontario
• W.R. Beatty · Hydro · 11.7 MW · Quebec
• Joey-Tanenbaum · Hydro · 17 MW · Quebec
• Bryson · Hydro · 61 MW · Quebec
• Chenaux · Hydro · 144 MW · Ontario

Location

Coordinates 46.05001, -77.3636 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions