BWXT Canada, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, has been awarded a CDN130m ($100m) steam generator design, manufacturing and delivery contract from Bruce Power for the Bruce-6 Candu reactor in Ontario. BWXT will design and manufacture all 32 steam generators needed for the eventual refurbishment of the Candu reactors at the Bruce site.
Bruce NPP comprises eight Candu units - Bruce A units 1-4 and Bruce B units 5-8. Units 3-8 are to be refurbished in an incremental project starting in 2020 and spanning 13 years, costing an estimated CDN8bn. An additional CDN5bn will be spent on related work from 2016 to 2053. The steam generators will be manufactured by Cambridge, Ontario-based BWXT Canada and shipped to the Bruce site in 2020, when unit 6 will be the first to go off line for refurbishment.
The contract follows a memorandum of understanding, which was signed by both companies in December of 2015 after the Ontario government announced that Bruce Power would go ahead with a long-term life extension programme for six units at the Bruce NPP. Bruce A units 1 and 2 have already undergone refurbishment, completed in 2012. The investment is underpinned by a December 2015 agreement between Bruce Power and Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator to secure 6,300MWe of electrical capacity at the Bruce site.
