Electrical power generation

Ontario Power Generation's Pickering Nuclear site is capable of supplying most of Toronto's electricity needs.

Canada's nuclear power industry generates about 15 per cent of the electricity used in Canada. It is very important in Ontario, where it supplies more than half of the province's electricity.

Nuclear power generation is a $6.6 billion industry that also provides $1.5 billion in federal and provincial revenues and employs 21,000 Canadians directly and another 10,000 Canadian indirectly. In addition, the industry supports another 40,000 jobs and 150 companies that depend on the nuclear industry.

How it works

Stated very simply, nuclear power plants use uranium as fuel to boil water and create steam. This steam spins turbines which are connected to rotors, which generate electricity.

Nuclear stations operate essentially the same way as do fossil fuel stations, differing in that they use uranium rather than burning coal, natural gas or oil. A major benefit is that nuclear reactors do not emit the carbon dioxide that results in global warming, or the gases that cause smog and acid rain.