Canada’s Bruce Power on July 24 announced that it had awarded a contract to Black & McDonald as its partner of choice to fulfil the contract for construction projects and services at unit 6 of the Bruce nuclear plant as part of the Major Component Replacement (MCR) project. 

Bruce nuclear plantBlack & McDonald will provide construction services and project execution for 19 individual mechanical and electrical projects and procure material and fabricated components for use in the construction projects. 

The MCR is part of an initiative to extend the life of the Bruce Power site by 2064. Work has already begun on Black & McDonald’s newly awarded scope of work, as extensive planning is required before the outage begins at Bruce 6 in January 2020. At its peak, Black & McDonald will employ more than 250 trades and 75 management and technical personnel on the contract.

Bruce Power’s life extension programme, now its third year, remains on time and on budget. The MCR will begin in unit 6 in 2020, followed by units 3 to 8. Bruce 1 and 2 have already undergone life extension. 

“By extending the life of the site, Bruce Power will create and sustain 22,000 jobs annually, both directly and indirectly, across Ontario and locally, while also delivering 30% of Ontario’s electricity at 30% less than the average cost to generate residential power and making medical isotopes that save lives,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO.  


Photo: the Bruce nuclear plant in Ontario