Special to Ontario Construction News
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 3 reactor has returned to service seven months ahead of schedule, saving $150 million in costs in what the province is calling the fastest and most efficient nuclear refurbishment in Ontario’s history.
Bruce Power, the private sector consortium licensed by the province to operate the power station on the eastern shores of Lake Huron, said the savings will be passed on to Ontario ratepayers through the Independent Electricity System Operator.
Eric Chassard, Bruce Power CEO, said the completed refurbishment, “reflects the dedication of our workforce, our skilled trades partners, and the strength of our made-in-Canada nuclear industry.”
“When Ontario successfully completed the world’s largest nuclear refurbishment at Darlington ahead of schedule and under budget, critics said it couldn’t be done again,” added provincial energy and mines minister Stephen Lecce in a statement.
“Yet again, we are proving them wrong as we delivered a record-setting refurbishment,” Lecce said. “Ontario is cementing our position as a tier-one nuclear jurisdiction.”
The Unit 3 refurbishment originally scheduled for completion in January 2027 is part of a program that aims to lengthen the operating life of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, one of the largest operating nuclear sites in the world. The unit was withdrawn from service in March 2023.
The refurbishment replaced components including fuel channels, feeder tubes, and steam generators, and also saw the first robotic tools ever used on a reactor face to refurbish a CANDU reactor. As well, the project set a record for calandria tube removal completing it 11 days ahead of schedule, Bruce Power said in a press release.
Bruce Power said the refurbished reactor, one of eight at the Bruce Generating Station and the second of six units undergoing refurbishment between 2020 and 2033, will generate more than 800 megawatts of electricity for more than 35 years, enough to power a city the size of Brampton.
