Bruce Power to study building new reactors,
restarting two more old units
Canadian Press - January 29, 2004
TIVERTON, Ontario — Bruce Power is considering building one or
more new reactors at its nuclear power complex on the shore of Lake Huron.
The partnership also said Thursday it will study the feasibility of
restarting at least two old reactors at the station - Bruce A units
1 and 2 - and refurbishing four Bruce B reactors.
"If this study concludes there is a sound business case to be made
for expanding Ontario's reactor fleet, I can think of no better
place to do it than at Bruce Power," Duncan Hawthorne, Bruce's chief
executive, said in a release.
The feasibility study will involve a technical inspection of the two
laid-up Bruce A units and an assessment of how much it wouold cost
to upgrade them to current standards.
It will also look at what improvements are needed to extend the
operating life of Bruce B as well as the feasibility of installing
one or more of the advanced Candu reactors that are being developed.
Unit 3 at the Bruce A generating station was recently brought back
online, only to be shut down after three days when sensors detected
electric current leaking from a cable in a heat pump. The unit has
since returned to service.
Bruce Power was granted permission a year ago by the Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission to refuel the mothballed units 3 and 4 to
bolster the Ontario energy supply.
Those reactors were expected to be operational by June but the
generating company continued to push back the deadlines for
reconnection, finally putting unit 4 online in October.
The output from the two units is enough to supply 500,000 homes,
according to Bruce Power.
Both units, which began producing power in the late 1970s, had been
taken out of service in 1998 by Ontario Hydro.
Bruce Power is a partnership among Cameco Corp. (TSX:CCO),
TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP), the Ontario Municipal Employees
Retirement System (OMERS) and the Bruce complex's unions.
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