The Nuclear power station Kursk located in western Russia on the bank of the Seym River about 40 kilometers west of the city of Kursk. The nearby town of Kurchatov was founded when construction of the plant began. The plant feeds the grid for Kursk Oblast and 19 other regions.

The reactors at the plant are the now obsolete RBMK type, the same type used at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The plant was originally equipped with two reactors. Four more reactors were added between 1976 and 1985.

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and the neighbouring town of Kurchatov stood in for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Pripyat for the production of the 1991 American television movie Chernobyl: The Final Warning.

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant has six units and the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II has one unit:

Unit	Reactortype	Net capacity	Gross capacity	Construction started	Electricity Grid	Commercial Operation
Kursk 1	RBMK-1000	925 MW	1.000 MW	01.06.1972	19.12.1976	12.10.1977
Kursk 2	RBMK-1000	925 MW	1.000 MW	01.01.1973	28.01.1979	17.08.1979
Kursk 3	RBMK-1000	925 MW	1.000 MW	01.04.1978	17.10.1983	30.03.1984
Kursk 4	RBMK-1000	925 MW	1.000 MW	01.05.1981	02.12.1985	05.02.1986
Kursk 5	RBMK-1000	925 MW	1.000 MW	01.12.1985	31.12.2010 planned	-
Kursk 6	RBMK-1000	925 MW	1.000 MW	01.08.1986	-	-
Kursk II-1	VVER-1200/491	1000 MW	1.170 MW	-	-	-

Kursk Nuclear Power Plant
Data
Country	Russia
Operator	Energoatom
Built	June 1, 1972
Start of commercial operation	October 12, 1977
Reactors
Reactors active	4 (4,000 MW)
Reactors under construction	1 (1,000 MW)
Reactors canceled	1 (1,000 MW)
Power
Total power generation in 2006	22,760 GW·h
Average annual generation (last 5 yrs)	21,963 GW·h
Net generation	536,921 GW·h
Status	Operating

Balakovo nuclear power plant is located in the city of Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, Russia, about 900 kilometers south-east of Moscow. It consists of four operational reactors; a fifth unit is still under construction. Owner and operator of the nuclear power station is Energoatom.

Balakovo is the partner power station of Biblis Nuclear Power Plant.

In 27 June 1985, during initial startup of the reactor 1, due to a human error (caused by inexperience and haste) a pressurizer relief valve unexpectedly opened and 300 °C hot steam entered the staff work area. 14 people were killed. This event is quoted as one of the predecessors of the Chernobyl disaster.

Unit	Reactor type	Net capacity	Gross capacity	Construction started	Electricity Grid	Commercial Operation
Balakovo - 1	WWER-1000/320	950 MW	1.000 MW	01.12.1980	28.12.1985	23.05.1986
Balakovo - 2	WWER-1000/320	950 MW	1.000 MW	01.08.1981	08.10.1987	12.01.1988
Balakovo - 3	WWER-1000/320	950 MW	1.000 MW	01.11.1982	25.12.1988	08.04.1989
Balakovo - 4	WWER-1000/320	950 MW	1.000 MW	01.04.1984	12.05.1993	22.12.1993

Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant
Data
Country	Russia
Operator	Energoatom
Built	December 1, 1980
Start of commercial operation	May 23, 1986
Reactors
Reactors active	4 (4,000 MW)
Reactors under construction	1 (1,000 MW)
Power
Total power generation in 2006	29,062 GW·h
Average annual generation (last 5 yrs)	27,720 GW·h
Net generation	387,580 GW·h
Status	Operating

Pickering Nuclear Power Plant is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Pickering, Ontario. The facility derives its name from the City (originally Township) of Pickering in which it is located.

Also co-located at the Pickering station is a single 1.8 MWe wind turbine named the OPG 7 commemorative turbine. In 1994 Pickering Unit 7 set a world record for continuous operation (894 days) without a shutdown.

The reactors are as follows:

PICKERING A

• PICKERING A 1
• PICKERING A 2 (Dormant)
• PICKERING A 3 (Dormant)
• PICKERING A 4

PICKERING B

• PICKERING B 5
• PICKERING B 6
• PICKERING B 7
• PICKERING B 8

The Pickering Nuclear Power Plant facility was constructed in stages between 1966-1986 by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro. In April 1999 Ontario Hydro was split into 5 component Crown corporations with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) taking over all electrical generating stations and which continues to operate the Pickering station.

The Pickering Nuclear Power Plant is one of the largest nuclear facilities in the world and comprises 8 CANDU nuclear reactors located on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, having a total output of 4124 MW (capacity net) and 4336 MW (gross net) when all units are online. Pickering is only surpassed in Canada by the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, which while also having 8 reactors, has a greater output. The facility is connected to the North American power grid via numerous 230,000 and 500,000 volt transmission lines.

The facility is operated as two distinct stations, Pickering A (Units 1 to 4) and Pickering B (Units 5 to 8). While primarily administrative in nature, the division is not wholly artificial, as there are some distinct differences in design between the two groups of stations. (Example: The Pickering A units employ moderator dump as a shutdown mechanism, a feature not found in Pickering B.) There are, however, a number of systems and structures in common between the two stations; the most notable of these is possibly the shared vacuum building, a negative pressure containment system.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced a two-part investment strategy for its nuclear generating stations in Durham Region. This includes the decision to spend $300-million to keep the Pickering B nuclear station open for another decade before it begins the longer term decommissioning process as refurbishment for Pickering B station will not be pursued. The first step in this process is to layup the reactors and place them into safe storage. Pickering staff will have future opportunities placing the Pickering units in a safe storage state, at the Darlington refurbishment and operations, or at the potential new build at Darlington. OPG will proceed with a detailed planning phase for the mid-life refurbishment of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station east of Toronto, with construction expected to start in about 2016. The business decision to move forward with an investment in Darlington comes after very positive outcomes of initial studies on the plant’s condition and continued strong operating performance. The next phase of the process will include an Environmental Assessment, an Integrated Safety Review and an Integrated Improvement Plan that will define the scope, cost and schedule of the refurbishment project.

Pickering Nuclear Power Station
A unit at the Pickering plant
Data
Country	Canada
Location	Pickering, Ontario
Owner	Ontario Power Generation (OPG)
Built	1966-1986
Reactors
Reactor type	CANDU
Reactors active	6 (3,100 MW)
Reactors shut down	2
Power
Status	Operating

photo: google.com

The Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Naraha and Tomioka in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture. Like Fukushima I, it is run by The Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Unit	Type	First Criticality	Electric Power	Installation costs (yen/kW)
Fukushima II - 1	BWR	4/20/1982	1100 MW	25
Fukushima II - 2	BWR	2/3/1984	1100 MW	23
Fukushima II - 3	BWR	6/21/1985	1100 MW	29
Fukushima II - 4	BWR	8/25/1987	1100 MW	25

In January 1989, an impeller blade on one of the reactor coolant pumps in Unit 3 broke at a weld, causing a large amount of metal mass to flow throughout the primary loop. As a result, the reactor was shut down for a considerably long time, making this one of the most serious accidents at the site.

In March 2011, nuclear reactors were automatically shut down at the Fukushima No. 1 and Fukushima No. 2 plants after the biggest-magnitude quake in the country's modern history. Tokyo Electric on March 12 reported that the cooling system for three reactors (nrs 1, 2 and 4) at the plant had topped 100 °C between 5:30 and 6:10 JST, less than one hour after the start of additional cooling with condensate water, and that the "pressure suppression function was lost".













Fukushima 2 after tsunami
photo: google.com

The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Okuma in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture. With 8 separate units located on site, Fukushima I is one of the largest nuclear plants in the world. Fukushima I is the first nuclear plant to be constructed and run entirely by the The Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Unit	Type	First Criticality	Electric Power
Fukushima I - 1	BWR	March 26, 1971	460 MW
Fukushima I - 2	BWR	July 18, 1974	784 MW
Fukushima I - 3	BWR	March 27, 1976	784 MW
Fukushima I - 4	BWR	October 12, 1978	784 MW
Fukushima I - 5	BWR	April 18, 1978	784 MW
Fukushima I - 6	BWR	October 24, 1979	1100 MW
Fukushima I - 7 (planned)	ABWR	October, 2013	1380 MW
Fukushima I - 8 (planned)	ABWR	October, 2014	1380 MW

Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant
The Fukushima 1 NPP
Data
Country	Japan
Operator	Tokyo Electric Power Company
Built	1966
Start of commercial operation	March 26, 1971
Reactors
Reactors active	6 (4,696 MW)
Reactors planned	2 (2,760 MW)
Power
Total power generation in 2006	25,806 GW·h
Average annual generation (last 5 yrs)	21,436 GW·h
Net generation	781,594 GW·h

Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant after Earthquake 2011

The company also said monitoring data suggested the air pressure level has also soared inside the container of the reactor.

Under Japanese law, a nuclear emergency must be declared if there is a release of radiation, if there is a dangerous level of water in the reactor, or if the cooling mechanisms fail. Japan declared a state of atomic power emergency instructing around 3,000 residents near a reactor in Fukushima Prefecture to evacuate. The evacuation advisory was issued for people living within a 3-kilometer radius of the plant, affecting approximately 5800 residents living near the power plant, while those living within a 10 kilometers radius were requested to stay home.

At 16:30 JST (7:30 GMT) on March 12, there was an explosion at the Fukushima I plant.

Early on March 13, an official of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told a news conference that the emergency cooling system of Unit 3 had failed, spurring an urgent search for a means to supply cooling water to the reactor vessel in order to prevent a meltdown of its reactor core.

At 7:30 JST, TEPCO prepared to release radioactive steam, indicating that "the amount of radiation to be released would be small and not of a level that would affect human health".

At 12:33 JST on March 13, it was reported that Secretary Edano said "it was 'highly possible' a partial meltdown was underway" in Unit 3. The six other active Fukushima 1 and 2 reactors would be venting radioactive gas to reduce pressure. The Post blamed the hydrogen explosion in Unit 1 on the lack of electrical power to the plant, which disabled a safety device that ignites hydrogen gas before it builds to a dangerous level.

Radiation at the Fukushima No. 1 plant has risen to 882 micro sievert, compared with the legal limit of 500, said Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPOC), operator and owner of the Fukushima plants, on Sunday.

At an emergency press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that the radiation has briefly jumped to 1,204 micro sievert at the plant.

He said that fresh water has been injected into No. 3 reactor of the plant and radiation at the reactor was small and under control.

Earlier in the day, the TEPOC reported the reactor lost its ability to cool the reactor core.

It was the sixth reactor that lost the function after No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the No. 1 plant and No.1, No.2 and No.4 at the No.2 plant had suffered the same trouble.

Fukushima I Nuclear Reactor Accidents