10.Wintersburg, Arizona, USA
This unassuming and unincorporated Arizona community is home to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest such facility in the United States. Palo Verde features three Westinghouse two-loop pressurized water reactors with power output capacities of 1,311, 1,314 and 1,317 MWe, respectively. They are the largest three reactors in operation in the U.S.
9.Ohi, Fukui, Japan
Ohi, in the Fukui prefecture of Japan, has fewer than 10,000 residents, but that small number belies the massive amount of energy produced at the local power plant, which is home to four enormous pressurized water reactors -- two kicking out 1,180 MWe, and two at 1,175 MWe. Operated by the Kansai Electric Power Company, it is the ninth largest nuclear hot spot in the world.
8.Bruce County, Ontario, Canada
Inverhuron and Tiverton, Ontario, located in Bruce County near the shores of Lake Huron, are quiet places that are home to a population that hovers around 1,000 or so. But together they share the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the single largest nuclear facility on the North American continent. Bruce makes use of six (there are eight on site, but two are in long-term shutdown) homemade, pressurized, heavy-water CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactors, with outputs ranging from 730 MWe to 817 MWe. If all eight reactors were operational, Bruce would land at number three on this list.
Total power output: 4,693 MWe
7.Cattenom, Lorraine, France
Little Cattenom in the northeastern French province of Lorraine is little more than a commune (think unincorporated municipalities in the states, or a parish in the UK), yet here resides the Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant, which houses four enormous pressurized water reactors with net outputs of 1,300 MWe each. At 5,200 MWe total power output, modest Cattenom is among the four largest plants in Europe.
Total power output: 5,200 MWe
6.Paluel, Upper Normandy, France
Readers shouldn't be surprised to find another village acting as home to one of the world's biggest nuclear reactor facilities, and little Paluel, on the northern coast of France, is no exception. With a population that might hit 500 on a busy day, the village is eclipsed doubly by the employmees at the Paluel Nuclear Power Station, which houses four gigantic 1,330 MWe pressurized water reactors.
Total power output: 5,320 MWe
5.Nord, France
Featuring six 910 MWe Framatome pressurized water reactors, the Gravelines Nuclear Power Station sits at one of the northernmost points of France, just a dozen or so miles from the ferry-friendly city of Calais. With a total output of 5,460 MWe, Gravelines qualifies as the largest nuclear reactor facility in France, a country known for its nuclear research and one that is home to over 50 reactors nationwide.
Total power output: 5,460 MWe
4.Zaporozhye, Ukraine
Located on the Dnieper River in Ukraine, the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station is the largest facility in Europe in terms of output, featuring six pressurized water reactors rated at 950 MWe each. The plant, also known as DniproHES, is part of a dam project that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century -- one that was, on two occasions, blown apart by retreating armies in the Second World War.
Total power output: 5,700 MWe
3.Yeonggwang, South Korea
With six mammoth pressurized water reactors on this site, with power outputs ranging from 947 to 997 MWe, Yeonggwang is the third-largest nuclear locale in the world, despite at least two other sites in South Korea that have individual reactors capable of higher output. It is also the power plant with the largest human population nearby -- Yeonggwang is home to some 70,000.
Total power output: 5,875 MWe
2.Kashiwazaki and Kariwa, Japan
Seven massive reactors sit on over 1.5 square miles of land in Niigata Prefecture, which is nestled next to the Sea of Japan, and produce a combined 7,965 MWe. Unlike the other sites on this list, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa features five traditional boiling water reactors, along with two so-called ABWRs (advanced boiling-water reactors), third-generation reactors -- the first of their kind built in the world. In 2007, this site endured a huge 6.6-magnitude offshore earthquake largely without issue.
Total power output: 7,965 MWe
1.Fukushima I and II
Because Fukushima I (or Fukushima Daiichi) and Fukushima II are just seven miles apart, they constitute a single hot spot, according to our criteria, and that's altogether fitting since Fukushima I is the location of the reactors at the center of the current nuclear crisis in Japan. It features six light-boiling water reactors, all of which are believed to have suffered damage to some degree from the tsunami, and reactors 1, 2 and 3 are believed to be in partial meltdown. Down the road, when the March 11, 2011 earthquake struck, Fukushima II's four gigantic boiling-water reactors successfully shut down before sustaining some minor damage from the ensuing tsunami.
Total power output: 8,814 MWe
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