Nuclear power project in Canada receives site preparation license

The Joint Review Panel (JRP) of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) on August 17 said it will issue a Nuclear Power Reactor Site Preparation License to Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) for its new nuclear power plant project at the Darlington nuclear site for a period of 10 years. The license will be valid from Aug. 17, 2012 to Aug. 17, 2022.

In June 2012, OPG announced it had signed agreements with Westinghouse and SNC-Lavalin/Candu Energy Inc., to prepare detailed construction plans, schedules and cost estimates for two potential nuclear reactors at the Darlington Nuclear site.

During a 17-day public hearing held March 21 to April 8, 2011 in Courtice, Ontario, the JRP received and considered submissions from OPG and 264 interveners, as well as 14 government departments, including the CNSC.

“This decision is an important milestone in Canada’s nuclear history,” said Alan Graham, chair of the JRP.
The JRP said it is satisfied that the licensee meets the requirements of section 24 of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, that OPG is qualified to carry out the activities that will be permitted under the license, and that the health and safety of people and the environment will be protected.

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Darlington nuclear plant to be refurbished by SNC-Lavalin, Aecon for $600-million

SNC-Lavalin Nuclear and Aecon Construction have been awarded a $600-million contract for the overhaul of the four reactors at the Darlington nuclear plant.

The contract is the first of seven that will make up the multi-billion-dollar refit of the giant nuclear station, which is due for a mid-life refurbishment.

Previous nuclear projects in Ontario have gone badly over budget, and opposition New Democrats criticized the contract award

But Energy Minister Chris Bentley says this time meticulous planning and preparation will keep costs in line.

“What was announced today was a different approach,” said Bentley in an interview.

Planners will map out the work into 30-minute segments, Bentley said. And a training centre with mock-ups of complex components of the nuclear station will allow crews to practice tasks before they start on the real reactors.

“One of the reasons they’re doing such an extensive design, planning preparation exercise is so they can map out the construction, and transfer any risks of missing those construction timelines to the contractor,” he said.

The initial $600 million contract will cover the planning phase of the project.

The price for the second phase – executing the work – will be determined once the plan has been completed. Planning should be finished by 2016, and work completed by 2023.

Previous projects, like the construction of the Darlington plant and the refurbishment of the Pickering A and Bruce A nuclear stations, have collectively run billions of dollars over budget.

Electricity ratepayers remain on the hook for most of the over-runs, paying for them through the “debt retirement charge” on every hydro bill.

Bentley wouldn’t forecast the total cost of overhauling the four reactors at Darlington, though previous estimates have ranged between $6 and $10 billion.

Physical work on the reactors is expected to start in 2016.

SNC-Lavalin Nuclear’s parent company delayed announcing its financial results this week, saying that it is probing $35 million in payments that were not documented last year.

Bentley wouldn’t comment on the company’s problems, other than to say the company has a “long-excellent track record” on large projects.

The work on the present project involves removing and replacing the pressure tubes and calandria tubes for all four units at Darlington.

The tubes hold the uranium fuel bundles and coolant that run through the core of the reactor.

The four Darlington reactors have reached mid-life. The refit will allow them to operate for another 25 to 30 years.

Peter Tabuns, energy critic for the New Democratic Party, sharply criticized the contract award.

“I find it extraordinary, when they’re facing huge over-supply of electricity, that they aren’t putting this on hold,” Tabuns said.

“This will further drive up hydro costs in Ontario.”

Ontario faces a glut of power some days. Demand has never rebounded since the latest recession. Meanwhile two newly overhauled nuclear units operated by Bruce Power will come on stream this year, along with a growing number of renewable power projects.

Tabuns said he’s seen no business case for the project: “This is a decision that makes no sense in terms of Ontario’s economy.”

Conservative energy critic Vic Fedeli supported moving ahead, however. Ontario gets half its power from nuclear plants, and the Conservatives don’t advocate changing that.

“It’s the right step to make sure we understand what we’re getting ourselves into,” he said.

“Our caucus will watch very closely on this project, because we expect to become the government soon. We’re going to inherit a real mess in our electricity sector, and we want to know this project is progressing well.”

Shawn-Patrick Stensil, nuclear critic for Greenpeace, disagreed.

“This is a lot of money to spend on a project that has yet to gain any regulatory approvals,” he said. “OPG has yet to provide an economic case for rebuilding Darlington. And the Fukushima disaster raises questions about the safety of the station’s multi-reactor design.”

Ontario Power Generation inks $600-million initial deal for nuclear refurbish plan

Ontario Power Generation has inked an initial contract in what promises to be a decade-long, multi-billion-dollar refurbishment of its Darlington nuclear plant – the province’s largest-ever nuclear rejuvenation undertaken in one go.

At the same time, the provincial NDP argues the deal’s a rush job on ambitious project that doesn’t have enough data to back it up, and is still awaiting final go-ahead from Canada’s environmental watchdog.

For $600-million, SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC-T38.861.463.90%) and will spend the next three years on “planning and preparation” for a single crucial aspect of refurbishing Darlington’s four reactors – the massive, drum-like calandria housing fuel bundles of uranium, and the feeding tubes that carry heavy water to and from each reactor’s core.

That planning phase includes the construction of a life-size replica reactor for engineers to practise on. And practise, and practise, until they’re able to fit finicky nuclear parts in their sleep – or in an eight-year schedule so exacting it’ll be measured out in 30-minute intervals.

When you’re working to refurbish a nuclear reactor piece by piece, there’s no room for error, but there’s no room for trial-and-error, either: Workers can only spend a strictly limited amount of time exposed to highly radioactive sites; they can’t spend hours futzing around until they find something that works.

“If you’re working on something like a turbine, you can be there all day. … You can’t do that in a reactor, ‘’cause you’re limited in how long you can be there. You’re only allowed a certain dose of radiation a year,” said OPG spokesman Ted Gruetzner.

“It’s a lesson we’ve learned from other projects that have run into trouble.”

The mock reactor is the first of its kind on this scale. It’ll be built on a field near the Darlington plant, Durham Region, just east of Toronto.

The exceptional step, and the long time period set aside for planning alone, is no mistake: Energy Minister Chris Bentley says Ontario’s learning from others’ experience: Costly overruns at a nuclear refurbishment project at Point Lepreau in New Brunswick, for example, sent the project years behind schedule and millions over budget.

“That is a completely, fundamentally different approach,” he said. “It’s fine-tuned planning, basically.”

Actual construction work on refurbishing the nuclear plant is supposed to begin in 2016, with workers taking each of the four reactors offline one by one. It’s expected to wrap up in 2024.

While Ontario Power Generation won’t give a firm price tag on the total cost of the project because several aspects have yet to be tendered, Mr. Gruetzner said it could range from $6-billion to $10-billion.

For that price tag, the province hopes to rejuvenate four reactors, all in their early 20s, to give them another 25 years of useful life.

With a total maximum output of 3,500 megawatts, Darlington is Ontario’s largest single power source.

At the same time, OPG is waiting for approval from federal and provincial governments to move forward on new reactors at the same site. Last year, it went through an environmental assessment on an application for up to four new reactors.

“I’m not in a position to speak to any further details about that,” Mr. Bentley said. “We’re still working on it.”

Last year SNC-Lavalin bought up the reactor-refurbishing arm of Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., previously an arms-length Crown corporation. Mr. Bentley said AECL’s absence in the bidding period for this latest refurbishment didn’t affect the province’s price tag.

Ontario New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns argues the province is flying blind - embarking on a multi-billion-dollar project without a sufficiently detailed energy plan for the province’s future.

“They have not brought forward a business plan on this, that I’m aware of. They don’t have a power supply plan,” he said. “We have no review showing whether we even need this, frankly.”

Mr. Tabuns also noted the refurbishment’s still awaiting the green light from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, due later this year. Mr. Gruetzner said the anticipated verdict on OPG’s environmental assessment of the project shouldn’t disrupt their timelines.

In last fall’s election the Liberals faced pressure, especially from the provincial NDP, to shift away from radioactive sources of electricity. But Mr. Bentley said the province has no plans to put the brakes on nuclear power.

The provincial Liberals have gone to great pains to focus on renewable energy - losing support from wind-power’s rural opponents in the process. But those in charge of regulating the power-hungry province’s electricity needs say green energy by its nature is extremely unpredictable; it doesn’t look as though the province will be able lessen its reliance on nuclear any time soon.

“Nuclear has been a very important part of our baseload. … It will continue to be,” he said. “It’s an important part of our ability to supply reliable, affordable power.”