The Government of Ontario has announced its backing for the ongoing operation of Ontario Power Generation’s Pickering plant beyond its earlier planned closure. They’ve also instructed the company to take another look at the possibility of refurbishing four out of six units on site, which could allow them to run for an additional 30 years.
Units 1 and 4, known as Pickering A, were set to shut down in 2024, while units 5-8, referred to as Pickering B, were scheduled to stop producing electricity in 2025. This was all part of major refurbishment work happening at the Bruce and Darlington sites. After a request from the government, OPG has reviewed its operational strategy and found that the facility can continue to safely generate electricity. With this new plan, the Pickering B units will operate until September 2026. Units 1 and 4 will still retire at the end of 2024 as originally intended.
Keeping Pickering running will provide clean, affordable, and dependable electricity that supports economic growth and job creation, stated Ontario Minister of Energy Todd Smith. “Nuclear power has been the safe and reliable backbone of Ontario’s electricity system since the 1970s and our government is working to secure that legacy for the future. Our leadership on small modular reactors and consideration of a refurbishment of Pickering Nuclear Generating Station are critical steps on that path,” he added.
In addition to cutting CO2 emissions by 2.1 megatonnes just in 2026 alone, continuing operations at Pickering will safeguard thousands of jobs while ensuring a steady supply of cobalt-60. According to OPG, this plant currently accounts for about 20% of North America’s supply and around 10% globally for this medical radioisotope.
If operations were to extend beyond September 2026, it would require a full refurbishment-an extensive and costly endeavor-but one that could lead to an additional three decades of energy production from the plant. The last feasibility study regarding possible refurbishment was conducted between 2006 and 2009. “With significant economic growth and increasing electrification of industry and transportation, Ontario has asked OPG to update its feasibility assessment for refurbishing Pickering B units at the Nuclear Generating Station based on current information as a sensible due diligence step supporting future electricity planning decisions,” stated the Ontario government.
The company plans to leverage its experience from refurbishing units at its Darlington facility.
“In 2009, OPG reviewed the environmental and safety case for refurbishing units 5-8; although there was community support for it, a decision was made not to proceed with the project due to challenging economics along with stagnant electricity demand plus anticipated supply chain issues,” said President and CEO Ken Hartwick.
“We’ve learned quite a bit about refurbishment since then through our Darlington project-which remains on track financially-and we’ll apply those lessons in our feasibility assessment for Pickering.”
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Securing consent
OPG indicated it is already working toward obtaining regulatory approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) so they can keep operating units 5-8 until late in 2026. They aim to complete their assessment requested by the province by year’s end along with submitting a final recommendation regarding refurbishment by then as well according to President and CEO Ken Hartwick. The current ten-year operating license for Pickering is set to expire in 2028; however, if they want permission to continue running past late 2024 they’ll need to submit a written request before year-end as noted by CNSC officials. That request will involve a public hearing alongside needing OPG’s reassessment results from periodic safety reviews submitted for CNSC staff evaluation. The units comprising Pickering A were among the first commercial Candu reactors worldwide when they began operating back in1971-though a large prototype functioned commercially at Douglas Point between1968-1984. Units one through four were taken offline in1997; subsequently unit one underwent refurbishment restarting service in2005 while unit four did so back in2003-units two & three weren’t restarted afterward. The CAD12.8 billion (USD10.1 billion) effort aimed at refurbishing OPG’s Darlington facilities reached over halfway earlier this year with refurbished unit Darlington two returning service June2020; work continues now on both unit one & three while renovations set begin third quarter twenty-twenty-three involving unit four!Source link
