Bruce Power and BWXT Canada Ltd have announced that they are collaborating on several projects to advance the made-in-Ontario economic recovery programme, including an estimated $55 million contract for BWXT to perform fuel channel maintenance on unit 3 at Bruce nuclear power plant. BWXT has also begun to ship steam generators to Bruce Power for unit 6.
The Life Extension project is known as Extended West Shift Plus and is scheduled to be carried out in 2021. Once complete, it will extend the life of unit 3 to 2023, when Bruce Power is scheduled to start the unit’s Major Component Replacement (MCR) Project. Extended West Shift Plus is the fourth major project of its kind to have been executed by BWXT in the past 12 years.
“Today’s announcement is exciting news for Ontario’s nuclear industry and for the province as the work being done through our Life-Extension Programme is creating jobs and providing direct and indirect spending to support getting the economy back on track in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis,” said Bruce Power President and CEO Mike Rencheck. “BWXT’s ability to execute on critical projects like Extended West Shift Plus extends the life of our reactors, which Ontarians count on to deliver affordable and reliable electricity.’’
BWXT is expanding its footprint in Saugeen Shores (where it opened an office in 2018) and is relocating to a larger facility, which will allow for training of staff to provide reactor inspection and maintenance services. BWXT’s Owen Sound manufacturing facility also opened in 2018 and is manufacturing and delivering a supply of critical components to Bruce Power.
The two companies also announced that the first ‘Made in Ontario’ steam generator, built by United Steel Workers, for the unit 6 MCR has been shipped from BWXT’s plant in Cambridge to Bruce Power. BWXT, a member of the Retooling and Economic Council launched at the end of April by Bruce Power, will manufacture a total of 32 steam generators for Bruce Power’s MCR projects. This manufacturing contract, originally awarded in 2016 and extending until 2030, represents the largest and longest-standing contract ever signed by BWXT Canada in the company’s 175-year history.
In August, Bruce Power, Isogen – a joint venture between Kinectrics and Framatome – and BWXT signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance feasibility work for a made-in-Ontario partnership for the production of medical isotopes to meet the growing demands of health-care providers in Canada and internationally.
Photo: The first ‘Made in Ontario’ steam generator, built by United Steel Workers, for the Unit 6 MCR has been shipped from BWXT’s plant in Cambridge to Bruce Power (Credity: Bruce Power)
