$26.8 billion nuclear refurbishment to begin in Pickering early next year

A nearly $27 billion plan to refurbish four reactors at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station to get nearly four decades more service out of them is set to begin early next year, with all four units to be taken offline in September.

The Ontario government gave the green light to the refurbishment in November, with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s approval still required.

The commission previously had already approved a short extension of units 5 to 8 at the Pickering nuclear plant to the end of 2026.

The renewal will start with Unit 5, pending approval, while the project team makes progress on the ground with construction of a new 200,000-square-foot retube feeder and boiler replacement training and mock-up facility, using experience gained from a similar project built for the refurbishment of the nearby Darlington plant.

The hub will be “critical” to training more than 2,800 skilled trades staff ahead of the refurbishment, Ontario Power Generation said on its website.

The new facility will feature detailed mock-ups of the Pickering reactor design and its components. It will also provide a training mock-up of Pickering’s lower boiler assembly, a unique aspect to the refurbishment.

The project team is also constructing other buildings to support the project, including the Common Services Building, a two-storey, 38,000-square-foot modular building that will be used by vendor partners.

Modular fabrication is helping the team work faster and more efficiently, OPG said, while meeting the unique requirements of building in a highly controlled environment.

Meanwhile, the project’s supply partners are progressing the fabrication, machining, and assembly of the key components needed to execute a nuclear unit refurbishment. This includes BWXT Canada, which is currently putting together heavy-duty steel vessels that will make up Pickering’s new steam generators, as well as ATS Industrial Automation, which is developing several specialized tools for the removal, inspection and re-installation of fuel channels at Pickering Nuclear.

The project team is also leveraging and applying the training methods, best practices, and more than 8,000 lessons gained from OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment, which was completed in March.

Once finished, a refurbished Pickering Nuclear will secure 2,100 megawatts of clean, reliable energy – enough to power more than two million homes – for another 30-plus years to help meet Ontario’s forecasted increase in energy demand.

Steam generators under construction

Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce said last year the project is expected to create more than 30,000 jobs during the refurbishment and maintain 6,700 jobs during its operation, while boosting GDP and addressing the province’s growing electricity needs.

The downside of taking the units offline, according to environmental group Environmental Defence, is that taking Pickering’s reactors out of service for most of the next decade will drive up greenhouse emissions by increasing the province’s already-growing reliance on natural gas to generate electricity.

Pickering Nuclear plant is currently responsible for 14 per cent of the province’s energy grid.