Community Matters: Building on our nuclear advantage

John Peevers, Director, Community and Media Relations

Ontario’s Minister of Energy, Hon. Todd Smith, once again visited the Bruce Power site recently to help celebrate our employees’ accomplishment in returning a renewed Unit 6 to the Ontario electricity grid following its Major Component Replacement outage.

While safely and successfully returning the unit to operation ahead of schedule and on budget is certainly something to be excited about, it’s just the beginning of a bright and prosperous future in the Clean Energy Frontier region of Bruce, Grey and Huron Counties.

The Unit 3 MCR Project began earlier this year and just last month moved into the removal and replacement series following months of safe preparation. These MCR outages see all of the key reactor components, such as feeder tubes, pressure tubes and steam generators, replaced with all new parts to allow the renewed units to produce safe, reliable and clean energy for decades to come.

Bruce Power’s MCR Project will include the refurbishment of Units 3-8 over the next decade, returning the units service at a time when the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) forecasts the need for clean energy to skyrocket through Ontario’s increased electrification and growth.

To meet that demand head-on, the provincial government announced its Powering Ontario’s Growth Plan this summer, paving the way for exploration into nuclear expansion options on the Bruce Power site.

On October 20th, Bruce Power formally notified the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) of its intent to launch an Impact Assessment (IA) for potential new nuclear generation on the Bruce Power site. The project is referred to as Bruce C, and the additional capacity would complement the existing Bruce A and B generating facilities.

Although no decision has been made to advance with a new build, the company is advancing this process in a proactive, open and transparent manner in order to engage Indigenous peoples, our communities and the public early in the process.

The framework released by the Province, and the associated pre-development work, was based on up to 4,800 megawatts (MW) of additional nuclear capacity. This additional capacity would complement the existing Bruce A and B generation facilities that are home to eight reactors.

Bruce Power also recently Bruce Power launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to further understand nuclear technologies that could help meet growing demand for clean electricity and advance decarbonization efforts in Ontario.

Bruce Power and the Clean Energy Frontier already have a head start: The company produces 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity on fewer than 1,000 hectares of land with space for incremental infrastructure development while respecting the environment; and it is uniquely positioned, with extensive operating experience, a large body of environmental research, significant space for expansion, existing transmission corridors, strong community support and skilled, experienced workforce and partners.

Community information sessions are being held Nov. 19 and Dec. 10 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the Bruce Power Visitors Centre. For more information, visit the website at https://www.brucepower.com/future-of-the-bruce-site.