In the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis, OPG acknowledged that it was donating strategic supplies to the medical community. These included over one million surgical masks, thousands of Tyvek suits, plastic face shields, air purification respirators, and $900,000 toward emergency food support to its First Nation neighbours and other communities. Other major suppliers in the power sector joined in, notably Bruce Power with 1.2 million pieces of personal protective equipment, and Alectra with N95 particulate respirator masks and donations to local food banks. Companies in the nuclear sector redeployed 3-D printers to produce face shields, supplied isotopes to help sterilize critical medical equipment and donated more than 2.1 million pieces of personal equipment to frontline workers. Grasshopper Energy donated surgical masks, KN95 masks and sanitizers for Oakville and Halton doctors’ offices.
Bruce Power announced April 30 that it was establishing a Bruce Power Retooling and Economic Recovery Council to leverage the province’s robust nuclear supply chain and assist in Ontario’s fight against COIVD-19 and to help aid economic recovery.
“An innovative and dynamic nuclear supply chain is more important than ever in meeting this new challenge while successfully implementing our mission of providing clean, reliable, flexible, low-cost nuclear energy and a global supply of medical isotopes,” said President and CEO Mike Rencheck. “We are mobilizing a great team with our extended supply chain, which spans the province, to assist in the fight against COVID-19 and to help drive our economic recovery in the future.”
The Council will be in operation for the duration of the pandemic and include of all of Bruce Power’s Ontario-based suppliers. The focus will be on the continued retooling of the supply chain to meet front-line COVID-19 needs, and to plan to contribute to the province’s economy recovery in the short, medium and long term.
For more information on collaborative post pandemic recovery efforts see also the editorial “The power sector is a natural leader in post pandemic recovery,” in Ontario news, and “Hydro-Quebec, NYPA agree to mutual assistance,” in National news.