page_title: Bruce Nuclear Generating Station
section_title: Refurbishment of Units 1–2, 1995–2012
hierarchical_section_title: Bruce Nuclear Generating Station / Refurbishment of Units 1–2, 1995–2012
caption_attribution_description: English: Bruce A Turbine Hall during the 2002-04 Bruce A restart project. T/A 4 furthest from the camera.
context_page_description: Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario. It occupies 932 ha of land. The facility derives its name from Bruce County in which it is located, in the former Bruce Township. It is the world's largest fully operational nuclear generating station by total reactor count and the number of currently operational reactors, but was exceeded in nameplate capacity by South Korea's Kori Nuclear Power Plant in 2016.
  The station is the largest employer in Bruce County, with over 4000 workers.
  Formerly known as the Bruce Nuclear Power Development, the facility was constructed in stages between 1970 and 1987 by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro. In April 1999 Ontario Hydro was split into 5 component Crown corporations with Ontario Power Generation taking over all electrical generating stations. In June 2000, OPG entered into a long-term lease agreement with private sector consortium Bruce Power to take over operation. In May 2001, Bruce Power began operations. The lease is for 18 years until 2019 with an option to extend another 25 years to 2044.
context_section_description: Retubing of Bruce A units was planned in 1992, but deferred, as Ontario Hydro had a surplus of generation at the time.
  In late 2005, Bruce Power and the Government of Ontario committed to return units 1 and 2 to service, in order to help meet increasing energy demand in the province of Ontario. The project was originally estimated to cost $4.25 billion. It was determined that while Units 1 & 2 could have been restarted without refurbishment, it was economically advantageous to do so, since refurbishment would have been required shortly thereafter. The goal is to keep Units 1 & 2 in service until 2043, 66 years after original commissioning.
  The refurbishment required pressure tube and calandria tube replacement, steam generator replacement, shutdown System 2 (SDS2) enhancement, an upgrade of turbine control systems, replacing original analog controls with a DCS and significant other work and maintenance (for example, replacement of 30 transformers containing PCBs).
  A new fuel bundle design (Low Void Reactivity Fuel, LVRF) was considered, using slightly enriched (1% U-235 fuel pellets, within a CANFLEX 43-element bundle compared to the existing 37-element bundle.
  In 2006 and 2007, the restart project was judged to be the largest infrastructure project in Canada by ReNew Canada magazine. In April 2007, the auditor general reviewed the refurbishment deal In August 2007, estimated cost for the project had grown to $5.25 billion when Bruce Power decided to replace all 480 fuel channels in Unit 4, which will extend its working life to 2036, in line with the other 3 units of Bruce A. In 2008, due to difficulties developing the necessary robotics, the estimated cost of restarting Units 1 and 2 rose between $400 and $700 million. As of 2008, the project remained on schedule.
  In January 2010, up to 217 workers were potentially exposed to radiation during the refurbishment. 27 workers may have received 5 mSv, a level well below the level that can affect human health. Only one lab in Canada (at Chalk River) was qualified to do the testing. Bruce Power had to seek permission to use alternative labs.
  In 2010, a plan to ship decommissioned, low-level radioactive steam generators to Sweden via the Great Lakes caused controversy. The CNSC approved the plan in February 2011.
  As of January 2011, fuel channel installation in Unit 2 was complete. The CNSC gave the operator the green light to restart Unit 2 on 16 March 2012. However, the reactor was shut down the next day after a leak was discovered in the moderator system.
  In 2011, refurbishment of Unit 1 and 2, scheduled to be complete 2009, was predicted for 2012. In 2011, the cost had totaled $3.8 billion; the final cost was expected to be $4.8 billion. The original 2005 estimate was $2.75 billion.
  In September 2012, Unit 1 began generating power again.
  On 16 October 2012, Unit 2 was connected to the provincial electricity grid for the first time in 17 years.
  In 2013, final costs were estimated at $4.8 billion, up from an original estimate of $2.75 billion, and the project ran "far behind" schedule.
caption: Bruce A Turbine Hall during the 2002–04 restart project
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