The Ontario government was in Maple today to announce the completion of Bruce Power’s Unit 3 reactor refurbishment.
The Province’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Stephen Lecce, Huron Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson and industry executives including Bruce Power CEO and President Eric Chassard were on-hand for the announcement, which was held at Northern Transformers.
“Our commitment as Canadians, as Ontarians, as part of our Premier’s team, to demonstrate to you all that this government, and our team in Ontario, has been able to unit by unit, project by project, from Darlington to Bruce Power refurbish on time, refurbish on budget. And that is a beautiful success story to profile to you today,” said Lecce.
Northern Transformers is supplier partner that helped with the Unit 3 refurbishment, which started at Bruce Power in 2023.
Lecce announced that the refurbishment project was complete ahead of schedule.
“We are so very proud today, to announce that Unit 3, this massive refurbishment project has now been completed seven months ahead of schedule, saving the Ontario ratepayer $150 million,” he announced.
The Unit 3 refurbishment replaced key components such as fuel channels, feeder tubes, and steam
generators.
The project also marked a significant step in nuclear innovation with the first robotic tools used ever on a reactor face to refurbish a CANDU reactor, as well as setting a record for calandria tube removal completing it 11 days ahead of schedule.
Lecce also congratulated the skilled workers who completed the work.
“[It’s] an incredible achievement for the workers who made it happen,” he said. “Our skilled workers are the best on earth. Incredible, skilled, yes… but committed to the cause – they believe in the work they’re doing.”
The Unit 3 reactor will contribute more than 800 megawatts (MW) to the province’s electrical grid for over 35 years, which is enough electricity for more than 800,000 homes.
“Unit by unit, we are setting a record, folks,” added Lecce. “This is record setting, unprecedented in the history of Ontario, to return a unit this early, this ahead of schedule.”
Bruce Power CEO and President Eric Chassard took time to thank Northern Transformers for their contribution to the Unit 3 refurbishment, as the power company looked to ensure that 95% of the money used on the refurbishment was spent directly in Canada, rather than outsourcing from other countries.
“We brought, in fact, companies not in the nuclear business, like Northern Transformers,” he explained. “We invested, and helped them… so that we can buy all of the transformers… not only do we need [what we have] already refurbished, but the ones we are going to refurbish. We’re in this together for the next 25-30 years, thanks to the refurbishment program, but our new builder program.”