With the advent of AI (artificial intelligence) data centres, EVs (electric vehicles) and the return of manufacturing to Ontario, the demand for electricity is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the near future.
“It’s going to take a mix of electricity sources, including nuclear, hydro, natural gas, wind and solar to meet the demand,” said John Peevers, Bruce Power Director of Community Relations.
Peevers was speaking at the Saugeen Shores Men’s Probus club at its January meeting on Tuesday, January 7th.
He pointed out that Ontario has “one of, if not the, cleanest electricity grids in North America”, with the majority of power generated by nuclear and hydro. “Bruce Power uses CANDU technology, developed in Canada and which is considered the safest nuclear technology. It also uses natural uranium and with 90 per cent located in Canada so that it makes us self-sufficient. The Bruce site currently produces 6,550 mega-watts of power or 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity, and the demand by 2050 is expected to increase to 17,800 mega-watts.”
He also went on to explain that Bruce Power is Canada’s only privately owned nuclear power plant through a partnership of OMERS Administration Corporation (48.37% ownership), TC Energy Corporation (48.37% ownership), the Power Workers’ Union (2.23% ownership), and the Society and Employee Trusts (consisting of The Society of Energy Professionals Trust and Bruce Power Employee Investment Trust; 1.03% Ontario Pension Plan, Unions and the employees who own shares.
Units at the Bruce Power site are currently undergoing refurbishments to extend their life out to 2064. Unit 6 has now been completed coming in “on time and on budget” explained Peevers, with unit 3 presently undergoing refurbishment. Once completed, it is expected that the existing units will increase output from 6,500 mega-watts to 7,000 through more efficiencies.
Given the anticipated astronomical demand for electricity into the future, nuclear generators Bruce Power and OPG (Ontario Power Generation) are now looking at expanding. “OPG is looking at adding three additional sites and Bruce Power is looking at adding a Bruce ‘C’ into its mix, although no decision has yet been made,” said Peevers. “The government (Ontario) however, has been very supportive and Bruce Power wants to be ready for the future.”
If expansion goes ahead, Bruce Power is in a unique position with 2,300 acres of land where there is room for expansion, and it has been one of the most studied in the world for impacts that include environmental and economical. “There are two regulatory bodies,” Peevers explained. “The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Impact Assessment (IA) Agency. Among its considerations, the IA looks at environmental, social and cultural impacts that would be affected by various technologies, and Bruce Power is looking at five different ones and how each would impact power production, jobs, excavation depths and more. ”
A second important industry for nuclear is the production of isotopes used in medicine. Bruce Power currently produces Cobalt 60 used in the sterilization of medical equipment, and is the first to produce Lutetium-177 used in the treatment of cancer, in partnership with Isogen, ITM and Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
Peevers went on to explain that Lutetium 177 however has a very short life span. “From the time it is removed, there is only seven days to process and administer it to a patient. After removal, it is now shipped primarily to Germany for processing before it can be used. We are however, now looking at a ‘hot-cell’ facility to process it right here in the region which will make a huge difference. We are working with Saugeen First Nation in partnership with ”
In the end, Peevers stressed that engaging communities is “… very important to us. We want to help communities’ well-being and we want to know what matters to people. We conduct polls every year or two to see how people want to receive their information. We hold open houses at the Visitors’ Centre, that was renovated during COVID, and we have our site bus tours that have proven to be very successful. We want to ensure that our communities are benefitting and are informed.”
Bruce Power is currently striving to be Net Zero by 2027. “This is an ambitious goal,” said Peeves, “and we are looking at several programs, such as creating carbon capture or storage and transitioning our on-site vehicles to EVs, to achieve it.”
If the Bruce ‘C’ build goes ahead, it will take the Bruce Power site out into the next century 2100 and beyond.
