Life extension work began in 2016 and remains ‘on track’
Unit 6 at the Bruce nuclear power station in Canada has achieved criticality as it nears a return to service following a major component replacement project.
The initial fission or “approach to critical” comes following Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approval to begin releasing the unit from a guaranteed shutdown state.
This enables the many commissioning activities to be completed on the newly installed systems to verify everything is working as expected.
Bruce Power’s life extension programme started in 2016 and remains on track with inspections, refurbishment, and major component replacement progressing.
Unit 6 is the first of six units that Bruce Power and its partners will refurbish as part of its major component replacement project between 2020 and 2033.
The project will extend the life of the Bruce site in Ontario until “2064 and beyond”, Bruce Power said.
The company said the Unit 6 project remains on track despite challenges faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Work on the Unit 3 major component replacement project is also on track. Unit 3 was taken offline for defuelling in March.
The refurbishment programme is due to be completed in 2033 and will increase the Bruce station’s peak output from 6,550 MW to more than 7,000 MW, the company said. The work will extend the operational life of each reactor by 30 to 35 years.
Bruce Power said in 2015 that the cost of the project to refurbish all six units would be CAD13bn (€8bn, $9.6bn). The company said it would assume all risks for cost overruns.
In 2022 Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator said the final fixed cost of the Unit 3 refurbishment alone was CAD1.9bn (€1.2bn, $1.4bn).
The eight Candu units at the Bruce site began commercial operation between September 1977 and May 1987.
