Located near Becancour about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal, the plant was commissioned in 1983.

Located near Becancour about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal, the plant was commissioned in 1983.
Hydro-Québec has a single shareholder, the Québec's provincial government. Responsible for operation and development of generating facilities in Québec, Hydro-Québec Production division sales and buys electricity on wholesale markets both within and outside the province. Hydro-Québec Production still favors the hydropower option. However, even if Gentilly 2 supplies only a small percentage of electricity production in Québec, it helps diversify the company's sources of supply.
Gentilly 2 is Québec's only nuclear generating station. It went into commercial operation in October 1983. Gentilly 2 generator is the most powerful among Hydro-Québec utility's generating stations. Moreover, the location of Gentilly 2 near the major electrical load centres in the province plays an essential role in stabilizing the Hydro-Québec grid, which is characterized by large remote hydraulic generating stations connected via very long transmission lines.

However improbable it may be, the insurance companies are very careful to explicitly exclude any coverage for property-owners in the event of such an accident. Also, the nuclear industry -- unlike any other industry in Canada -- is protected by a special Act of Parliament which limits civil liability to $75 million in the event of such an accident. These are extraordinary legal and financial precautions for an accident which Hydro-Québec declares to be "inconceivable".

It is irresponsible for Hydro-Québec to pretend that such an accident is not possible at Gentilly-2