Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is to begin executing the refurbishment of units 5-8 at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station’s following approval from the Province of Ontario. As one of the world’s largest nuclear stations, Pickering has been operating for more than 50 years and currently meets about 11% of Ontario’s electricity needs. Pickering units 1 and 4 – the last of the four units making up Pickering A – ceased commercial operations in 2024.
Pickering station is located in the city of Pickering (Municipality of Durham) on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The Ontario government is supporting a plan by OPG to proceed with refurbishing Pickering station’s “B” units (units 5-8). Two of the four Pickering “A” units (2&3) were closed in 1997. Units 1&4 were refurbished but were closed in 2024. Pickering A began operation in the 1970s and Pickering B in the 1980s. All eight units are 600 MWe pressurised heavy water Candu reactors.
Pickering units 5-8 had been scheduled to end electricity production in 2025, but in 2022 the provincial government directed OPG to keep them operating until 2026 and to reassess the feasibility of refurbishment. In January 2024, the Ontario government approved start of the initiation phase of the refurbishment project and a year later OPG was given permission to start the project definition phase. Approval to begin work has now been given. With the green light from the government, OPG said it will continue to advance the definition phase, which will last through much of 2026. OPG will begin the Project Execution Phase to refurbish Pickering 5-8 in early 2027, with completion expected by the mid-2030s.
Pickering currently has a licence to operate until the end of 2028. OPG has applied to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for a 10-year licence that includes refurbishment activities. The new licence would be in effect throughout the refurbishment period and into operations at the newly refurbished station.
Pickering’s refurbishment will provide some 38 more years of power and maintain thousands of skilled jobs across Ontario and Canada. The refurbishment is expected to cost CAD26.8bn ($19.1bn) However, a study by the Conference Board of Canada, said it will increase Ontario’s GDP by CAD38.2bn in 2024 dollars over the project’s lifespan. This will include CAD17bn during the refurbishment phase, and increase Canada’s national GDP by CAD41.6bn.
Refurbishing and continuing operations at Pickering will also sustain some 7,500 jobs a year across Canada over its lifespan including 30,500 jobs a year over the refurbishment period. In addition, about 85-90% of spending is expected to stay within Ontario, strengthening the local economy. OPG has already agreed significant contracts for the Pickering Refurbishment with Ontario-based suppliers, including a CAD2.1bn contract with CanAtom for early engineering and procurement to prepare for the execution of the project’s Retube Feeder and Boiler Replacement Programme.
The Pickering refurbishment follows similar work at OPG’s Darlington nuclear station and will benefit from that experience. The Darlington Refurbishment Project began in 2016 and is now nearing completion earlier in 2026 than its original schedule and on budget. The Darlington station comprises four Candu reactors with a total output of 3,512 MWe. Units 1-3 are currently operating and refurbished while unit 4 is still undergoing refurbishment. With more than 7,000 lessons learned on the Darlington Refurbishment project, OPG, its vendor partners, and Ontario’s nuclear supply chain are ready to apply these lessons and innovations to ensure Pickering’s life-extension is an equal success.
Like Darlington, refurbishing Pickering will involve removing and replacing major components of each reactor and its associated equipment, including replacing 380 fuel channels in each reactor. However, Pickering’s refurbishment is a more complex and larger project than Darlington including replacement of all 48 steam generators across the four units – components that were inspected rather than replaced at Darlington.
Pickering’s refurbishment will also see the construction of a new, 1,500-metre-long deep-water intake structure that will allow access to deeper and colder water for the station’s cooling needs. This high-value item was already in place at Darlington from the original construction.
“This is a truly remarkable moment for Pickering Nuclear, our employees, and the community,” OPG President and CEO Nicolle Butcher said. “We are ready to leverage all of our ongoing lessons and experience from our Darlington Refurbishment and the construction of the G7’s first Small Modular Reactor to deliver another successful nuclear refurbishment for Ontario. Through this project, we will ensure this important station continues to play a key role in our future – by generating critical energy and economic benefits, sustaining high-quality jobs, and ensuring Ontario and Canada’s energy security.”
