World’s biggest nuclear power plant being planned in Canada

A Canadian utility has begun early work to expand a nuclear plant, potentially building the world’s largest facility as growing demand for clean energy spurs interest in atomic energy.

The Ontario government said Wednesday that Bruce Power will conduct an environmental assessment of its 4.8 gigawatt capacity plant addition in Canada’s most populous province. The plant’s eight reactors currently have about 6.2 gigawatts of capacity and supply 30% of the province’s power.

The expansion will make the site larger than Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world’s largest with seven reactors and more than 8 gigawatts of capacity.

The announcement comes amid growing recognition that carbon-free nuclear power is likely to play a key role in the global battle against climate change. Canada is developing plans to mandate a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, and the Bruce project is the province’s first conventional nuclear plant in three decades. Another utility in the region, Ontario Power Generation Inc., is involved in the effort to build a new type of advanced reactor.

“New nuclear generation will be critical to building the clean grid of the future,” said Todd Smith, Ontario’s energy minister.

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