The Major Component Replacement process on Bruce Power's Unit 3 has begun.
Bruce Power confirmed that Unit 3 was shut down on March 1 to begin the outage that will see the unit get major work done. Unit 3 is scheduled to come back online in 2026, as the Major Component Replacement project gets underway that will see Units 3-8 at Bruce Power refurbished to continue their life cycle and provide clean, reliable power to Ontario.
The refurbishment of Units 3-8 will extend those unit life cycles to 2064, and will also allow the continued production of medical isotopes used to fight various cancers around the world.
Unit 6, which was the first unit to be refurbished under the MCR project, is scheduled to return to service later in 2023. Units 1 and 2 were refurbished and brought back online in 2012 and have since set new operational performance milestones according to Bruce Power.
“Ontario is in the enviable position of having one of the cleanest electricity grids in the world and our nuclear sector plays a big role in providing a reliable source of clean base-load power,” said the Hon. Todd Smith, Ontario’s Minister of Energy. “With increasing electrification, refurbishing our nuclear fleet is crucial to meeting future clean energy demands.
“Bruce Power has not only been a leader in innovation through its operation and refurbishment projects, but it has also helped to establish Ontario as a world leader in the production of cancer-fighting medical isotopes,” Minister Smith added.
“We’ve shown that refurbishing our units makes sense. We have the skilled workforce and supply chain knowledge right here in Ontario to carry out these projects successfully, while stimulating the economy at the same time. We are Made in Canada,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO. “With the Unit 6 MCR nearing completion and Unit 3 now underway, we’re renewing our units with each subsequent MCR in order to continue providing the people, homes, businesses and hospitals of Ontario with carbon-free, clean, reliable electricity for many more decades.”