Monday, 14 October 2024
The Canadian Nuclear Security Fee has accepted Ontario Energy Era’s request to proceed working Pickering models 5-8 to the tip of 2026, guaranteeing the models can proceed in operation till they’re taken offline for refurbishment. Unit 1 ceased business operations on 30 September and unit 4 will shut by the tip of this yr.
Submissions from Ontario Energy Era (OPG), Canadian Nuclear Security Fee (CNSC) employees and 54 intervenors throughout a public listening to in Pickering in June 2024 had been thought of by CNSC earlier than authorising the models to function till 31 December 2026, as much as a most of 305,000 equal full energy hours (EFPH). OPG was beforehand authorised to function the models till 31 December this yr, as much as a most of 295,000 EFPH. The amended licence features a new situation requiring OPG to implement and keep an enhanced fitness-for-service programme, the CNSC stated.
OPG’s Pickering Nuclear Producing Station contains two reactor amenities with a complete of eight Candu reactor models. Items 5-8 – typically known as Pickering B – started working between 1983 and 1986. Items 1 and 4 – a part of the four-unit Pickering A plant which started operations within the early Nineteen Seventies and was laid up in 1997 – underwent refurbishment earlier than returning to service within the 2003 (unit 4) and 2005 (unit 1).
Pickering unit 1 was taken offline and out of service on 30 September as deliberate, and can now be dewatered and positioned in secure storage. Unit 4 will likely be taken out of service on the finish of December, as OPG continues to plan for the refurbishment of models 5-8.
The CNSC’s resolution will assist meet Ontario’s rising want for electrical energy, notably because the province’s different nuclear stations endure refurbishment, OPG stated.
“That is one other nice milestone for Pickering Nuclear and all our station employees, who’ve labored arduous to assist Pickering obtain a few of its finest efficiency in its historical past in recent times,” OPG Chief Nuclear Officer Steve Gregoris stated.
Plans to refurbish models 5-8 had been formalised in the beginning of this yr, when the provincial authorities introduced its help for the venture. OPG’s timeline envisages placing the whole station right into a “layup state” in 2026 in order that refurbishment actions can start. All 4 refurbished reactors will likely be again in service by the mid-2030s.
OPG is presently refurbishing 4 Candu models at its Darlington website, aiming to finish the venture in 2026, and can also be planning to construct as much as 4 BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs) at its Darlington New Nuclear venture.
