Bruce Power completed its Unit 4 Major Component Replacement (MCR) outage defuel milestone ahead of schedule on Feb. 25, highlighting its commitment to innovation and continuous improvement as its Life-Extension Program stays on plan to return renewed units to service and provide clean electricity to the people of Ontario for decades to come.
By completing the milestone safely in just 24 days, the most efficient defuel in the history of CANDU reactors, Bruce Power’s employees, partners and skilled tradespeople bettered their performance from the two previous MCR outages in Units 6 and 3, completed in 46 and 29 days, respectively.
“We continue to improve our performance in each successive MCR outage with our skilled workforce leveraging innovation and lessons learned,” said Lucas Van Wieringen,
Plant Manager, Bruce A. “Our private investments in state-of-the-art innovative modifications to improve safety and efficiency of our defuel campaign set our teams up for success. Our continued focus on proficiency of our workforce and a high-quality schedule through planning and preparation will enable us to continue to build momentum in our Life-Extension Program.”
Removing the 5,761 fuel bundles from Unit 4 was no small task, with Bruce A’s fuel handling team leveraging strong planning, preparation and maintenance for months prior to execution.
With defuel complete, the next major milestone in the Unit 4 MCR project is the chemical decontamination of the Primary Heat Transport (PHT) system prior to the start of construction activity, which begins with major component disassembly.
While Bruce Power’s first MCR outage in Unit 6 was completed with an industry best
safety record for large projects, it was identified prior to the Unit 3 MCR that dose rates in the unit’s PHT system were significantly higher, requiring an innovative approach.
A chemical decontamination of the PHT system at Low Level Drain State was identified as the most appropriate course of action. The Chemical Decontamination project was a technically complex project that greatly reduced dose rates. It is expected that this innovation will garner the same excellent results in Unit 4.
The renewed unit will be loaded with new fuel bundles ahead of its restart in 2027.
The Unit 4 MCR is the third refurbishment project in the company’s Life-Extension Program to extend the operational lives of Units 3-8 to 2064. With the Units 3 and 4 projects underway, Bruce Power will see overlapping MCR outages until 2033, a magnitude of work that no other utility in the world is completing on an operating site.
Bruce Power’s $13-billion refurbishment is Canada’s third largest infrastructure project (behind British Columbia’s Peace River Site C hydroelectric project, and Ontario’s Go transit expansion), and is Ontario’s largest clean-energy infrastructure project. Bruce Power’s Life Extension is unique in that it’s being funded through private investment.
The Life-Extension program and ongoing site operations create and sustain 22,000 direct and indirect jobs annually and contribute approximately $4 billion in annual economic benefits in communities throughout the province, particularly here in the Clean Energy Frontier region of Bruce, Grey and Huron counties.
About Bruce Power
Bruce Power is an electricity company based in Bruce County, Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory, Ontario. We are powered by our people. Our 4,200 employees are the foundation of our accomplishments and are proud of the role they play in safely delivering clean, reliable nuclear power to families and businesses across the province and cancer-fighting medical isotopes around the world. Bruce Power has worked hard to build strong roots in Ontario and is committed to protecting the environment and supporting the communities in which we live. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, OMERS, the Power Workers’ Union and The Society of United Professionals. Learn more at www.brucepower.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
