page_title: Ontario Power Generation
section_title: Nuclear power
hierarchical_section_title: Ontario Power Generation / Nuclear power
caption_attribution_description: English: The Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, in Clarington, Ontario (Canada). Taken during sunset in June/2007 from Courtice beach. I used my Nikkor 70-210mm zoom for this, with a circular polarizer on the lens, and my tripod to keep it all steady.
context_page_description: Ontario Power Generation Inc. is a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Ontario. OPG is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sources of electricity include nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, gas and biomass. Although Ontario has an open electricity market, the provincial government, as OPG's sole shareholder, regulates the price the company receives for its electricity to be less than the market average, in an attempt to stabilize prices. Since 1 April 2008, the company's rates have been regulated by the Ontario Energy Board.
  On 10 June 2019 it was announced that a new corporate campus would be built in Clarington, Ontario that will also house Ontario Power Generation's headquarters.
context_section_description: OPG is the owner and operator of two nuclear power plants; Pickering Nuclear Generation Station in Pickering, Ontario and Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Courtice, Ontario. OPG also owns two other nuclear generating stations on Lake Huron in western Ontario which are leased to and operated by Bruce Power.
  Waste
  OPG also operates three facilities for the interim management of nuclear waste generated by OPG's 10 nuclear reactors and Bruce Power's eight nuclear reactors. The company is proposing to construct and operate a deep geologic repository (DGR) on the Bruce Nuclear site, adjacent to its present Western Waste Management Facility. The repository would provide permanent storage of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste produced from the operation of the Bruce, Pickering, and Darlington nuclear generating stations. In 2005, OPG initiated the regulatory approval process.
  Following a comprehensive Environmental Assessment (EA) process and two rounds of public hearings in front of a federal joint review panel (JRP), on May 6, 2015 the JRP issued the EA Report and recommended the approval of OPG's DGR to the federal government.
  In February 2016, the Federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change delayed a decision on OPG's DGR, causing a pause in the timeline for the EA decision to be issued. While the JRP had recommended to the federal government the project move forward based on the strong technical safety case, the Minister requested OPG provide further information. OPG has committed to provide the requested studies and additional information by the end of 2016.
  New Build
  OPG has also begun the process of building up to four new nuclear units at the site of its Darlington Nuclear Generating Station but in October 2013, the Province of Ontario declared that the Darlington new build project would not be part of Ontario's long-term energy plan, citing the high capital cost estimates and energy surplus in the province at the time of the announcement.
  Pickering End of Commercial Operations
  In January 2016, the Province of Ontario approved plans to pursue continued operation of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station to 2024.
  OPG will work with the Ministry of Energy, the Independent Electricity System Operator and the Ontario Energy Board to pursue continued operation of the Pickering Station to 2024. All six units would operate until 2022; two units would then shut down and four units would operate to 2024. Extending Pickering's operation will ensure a reliable, clean source of base load electricity during refurbishment of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station and the initial Bruce Nuclear refurbishments.
  Any plan to extend Pickering's life requires approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). OPG is currently working on a licence application to the CNSC for approval in 2018.
caption: The Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, on the shores of Lake Ontario in Clarington.
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