Nuclear power plant in Vaud, Switzerland. Approximate location 46.6927, 6.8272.
NuclearVaudSwitzerlandHWGCR: 2-loopsheavy water gas-cooled reactor
Lucens nuclear power plant is a 7 MW nuclear power plant in Vaud, Switzerland. It is operated by Nationale Gesellschaft Zur Förderung Der Industriellen Atomtechnik [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 16k homes (estimated). It ranks #119 of 174 Switzerland power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1968, it is around 58 years old — an older, legacy facility. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 29.9% of Switzerland's electricity; the national grid averages 39 gCO₂/kWh (97.7% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_lucens_switz.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: GEM GNPT; fuel: GEM GNPT
At 7 MW, Lucens nuclear power plant is below the median nuclear plant in Switzerland (950 MW). Technically it is described as heavy water gas-cooled reactor. 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Nationale Gesellschaft Zur Förderung Der Industriellen Atomtechnik [100%].
This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 46.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #7 largest nuclear power plant of 7 in Switzerland by capacity.
Switzerland has 7 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 5,582 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 46.6927, 6.8272 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Lucens nuclear power plant is a 7 MW nuclear power plant in Vaud, Switzerland, commissioned in 1968.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 15,768 homes (estimated).
Lucens nuclear power plant is operated by Nationale Gesellschaft Zur Förderung Der Industriellen Atomtechnik [100%].
