On January 17, four years after the start of its Life-Extension Program, Bruce Power began the execution phase of its first Major Component Replacement (MCR) project.
The operations team at the Bruce B nuclear generating station have completed the rundown sequence for Unit 6 and taken the unit offline. Between the present and 2033, Units 3 to 8 will be upgraded during MCR, replacing the reactor components to extend the life of those units, and the Bruce Power site, to 2064.
“The Unit 6 project marks the next big step in a long campaign to revitalize this site,” said Mike Rencheck, President and CEO.
As part of the program, SNC-Lavalin announced January 30 that it has been awarded three contracts with a combined value of $34 million from Bruce Power. SNC-Lavalin’s scope of services includes fuel channel and feeder replacement (FCFR), detailed designs for Unit 3 and Unit 4, and a seismic margin assessment (SMA) of the site.
SNC-Lavalin will undertake the detailed design of the Unit 3 and Unit 4 MCR fuel channel assemblies and calandria tubes, including pressure tubes, end fittings, positioning assemblies, bearing and shielding sleeves and inserts and rolled joints. A stress analysis to determine the strains of the calandria and shield tank assembly will be performed. The work has begun and is anticipated to be completed in 2023.
Detailed design of the Unit 3 and 4 feeders will be undertaken and include a partial replacement of the feeder cabinet and items inside such as instrumentation lines and I&C (Instrumentation and Control) components. This work has begun and continues into 2022.
A seismic margin assessment will be conducted to demonstrate the seismic adequacy of the station. Unit 3 will occur from this January until May 2021, followed by Unit 4 from June 2021 to February 2022.
Bruce Power says extending the life of the Bruce Power site until 2064 will result in an annual injection of $4 billion into Ontario’s economy while creating and sustaining 22,000 jobs across the province each year.
“With Unit 6 offline, we have reached a pivotal moment in Bruce Power’s history,” Rencheck said. “We are focused on doing our work safely, to the highest standard, on time and on budget.”