Bruce Power

Last updated
Bruce Power Limited Partnership
Company type Limited partnership
Industry Electricity generation
Founded2001 in Tiverton, Ontario
Headquarters Tiverton, Ontario, Canada
Key people
President & CEO: Mike Rencheck
Products Electricity
Website www.brucepower.com

Bruce Power Limited Partnership is a Canadian business partnership composed of several corporations. It exists (as of 2015) as a partnership between TC Energy (31.6%), BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (61.4%), the Power Workers Union (4%) and The Society of United Professionals (1.2%). [1] It is the licensed operator of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, located on the shores of Lake Huron, roughly 250 kilometres northwest of Toronto, between the towns of Kincardine and Saugeen Shores. It is the third-largest operating nuclear plant in the world by capacity.

Contents

Bruce Power operates eight nuclear reactors on Lake Huron where it leases the Bruce site from Ontario Power Generation. [2] With those eight units in operation, the facility has a capacity of 5,403 megawatts and typically supplies nearly 30 per cent of the electricity used in Ontario's provincial power grid. [2] Bruce Power became the world's largest operating nuclear facility in 2012, when Units 1 and 2 returned to operation after a multibillion-dollar refurbishment project. This achievement returned the site to full operating capacity for the first time in 17 years.

According to the company, "Bruce Power set a site record for production in 2015, generating 30 per cent of Ontario's electricity at 30 per cent less than the average residential price of power. [3]

Current and planned projects

Bruce Power has invested more than $7 billion in its Bruce A and B facilities to restart and optimize the performance of its nuclear fleet over the last decade and has successfully carried out massive refurbishment and plant life extension projects on all of its operational units. It plans to refurbish Units 3–8 in a $13 billion project, beginning in 2020.

Bruce A Restart

Following the initial Bruce A Restart project (initiated during the British Energy incumbency) to return to service of Units 3 and 4 (completed in 2003/04), Units 1 and 2 underwent a multibillion-dollar refurbishment after years of dormancy. To facilitate this, on Oct. 17, 2005, Bruce Power announced a revision to its structure. [4]

TransCanada Corporation, BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust, the PWU and the Society formed a new partnership, Bruce Power A Limited Partnership (BALP), that will obtain a sublease of the Bruce A facility. Cameco Corporation is not an investor in BALP. TransCanada and BPC will each own a 47.4% interest in BALP and the remaining interest will be owned by the PWU and Society.

During its peak, the Bruce A Restart project was named the largest infrastructure project in Canada, and it was widely considered as one of the most complex engineering challenges Ontario has ever seen.

Safety was also a key component of the Restart initiative for both Bruce Power and its contractors. The project marked an astounding 24 million hours worked without a single acute lost-time injury. For a project this significant, this was a remarkable landmark for the entire industry.

In October 2012, Bruce Power returned Units 1 and 2 to commercial operation just weeks after synchronizing to Ontario's electricity grid for the first time since 1997 and 1995 respectively.

On 3 December 2015, Bruce Power president/CEO Duncan Hawthorne announced that it would spend $13 billion for a major overhaul of six of its Lake Huron reactors, starting in 2020. This is a postponement of a project initially planned for 2016; the change was made because the reactors should not require major work as soon as 2016. Bruce Power will assume any risk of financial overruns. The Ontario government was pleased with that news because the province would not be assuming any financial risk. However, the agreement will require Ontario to pay a higher price for electricity produced by Bruce Power. Naturally, the massive project will provide other benefits. "The agreement makes 23,000 jobs possible and supports an estimated $6.3 billion in annual, local economic development," said Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli. [5]

Bruce Power Alberta

In 2008, Bruce Power applied for a licence to build a nuclear power plant at Cardinal Lake. [6] Chief Executive Officer Duncan Hawthorne travelled to Peace River, Manning and Grimshaw, Alberta to personally inform the communities that Bruce Power had initiated a process to consider building western Canada's first nuclear power plant.

Through an application filed with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Bruce Power sought approval to prepare a site that could generate 4,000 MW of electricity from two to four reactors that would not produce greenhouse gases or air pollutants. As concerns over climate change continue to grow, the proposal could have seen the first unit ready as early as 2017, pending the successful completion of a full Environmental Assessment (EA) and consultations with the local communities.

As part of the decision-making process, open houses, workshops and community meetings were held and regular newsletters issued to update residents and seek their input across Alberta.

Late in 2011, Bruce Power announced it had decided against advancing the proposal. [7]

Isotope Production System

See also Bruce Nuclear Generating Station#Radioisotope production project

Bruce Power is developing Unit 7 as an Isotope Production System (IPS). In January 2022 it announced completion of a facility to produce Lutetium-177, Lu-177 which is used to produce the medical isotope Lutetium (177Lu) oxodotreotide. The company plans IPSes which would produce other useful isotopes. The Lu-177 will be processed by a partner ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) and marketed with its partner Saugeen Ojibway Nation under the name “Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin.” [8]

History

Bruce A Turbine Hall during the 2002-04 restart project Bruce A Turbine Hall December 2002.JPG
Bruce A Turbine Hall during the 2002–04 restart project

Bruce Power was founded as a Limited Liability Partnership in 2001 between British Energy (82.4%), Cameco Corporation (15%), Power Workers' Union and The Society of Energy Professionals. Following the financial difficulties of British Energy in the Fall of 2002, the LLP became a wholly Canadian-owned Limited Partnership on Feb. 14, 2003

In May 2001, Bruce Power became the licensed operator of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Tiverton, Ontario. The concession for operating the station was granted by Ontario Power Generation, one of the five successor companies of the defunct Ontario Hydro. Bruce A and Bruce B are equipped with eight CANDU nuclear reactors (four at each station). The initial four reactors were commissioned at Bruce A between 1977 and 1979, while Bruce B's were added between 1984 and 1987. The Bruce Power site at Tiverton is the world's largest nuclear generating facility.

Since its creation, Bruce Power has successfully restarted all four Bruce A reactors.

On Oct. 7, 2003, Unit 4 returned to the Ontario grid for the first time since 1998, when it was laid up by the site's previous operators. It was then followed by Unit 3 on Jan. 8, 2004.

On Oct. 17, 2005, Bruce Power reached an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority and launched a $4.25 billion investment program to refurbish and restart Bruce A Units 1 and 2. Unit 1 was returned to the grid on Sept. 20, 2012, with Unit 2 following shortly thereafter on Oct. 18, 2012. [9] [10]

Restarting those units boosts Bruce Power's output to 6,300 MW, making Bruce Power the source for about 25 per cent of Ontario's electricity on a typical day.

In 2014, Cameco announced it had agreed to sell its 32% shareholding in Bruce Power to BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (Borealis Infrastructure) for $450 million. Upon completion of the sale, Borealis will become the majority partner of Bruce Power with 56.1 per cent ownership. [11] [12]

In 2016, Bruce Power started a $13 billion refurbishment program at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station. [13] According to Bruce Power, this multi-year plan "will generate between 1,500 and 2,500 jobs on site annually – and 18,000 across Ontario directly and indirectly – while injecting up to $4 billion annually into Ontario's economy". [14]

Nuclear Response Team

Nuclear Response Team
BranchBruce Power
Type Incident response team
Role Special response in Bruce Power sites
Location Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada

Bruce Power maintains a small specialized unit namely the Nuclear Response Team (NRT) which carry out tactical response operations in Bruce Power sites. [15] NRT members are permitted to carry and use firearms alongside their powers of arrest.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CANDU reactor</span> Canadian heavy water nuclear reactor design

The CANDU is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide moderator and its use of uranium fuel. CANDU reactors were first developed in the late 1950s and 1960s by a partnership between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Canadian General Electric, and other companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickering Nuclear Generating Station</span> Nuclear power plant in Canada

Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Pickering, Ontario. It is one of the oldest nuclear power stations in the world and Canada's third-largest, with eight CANDU reactors. Since 2003, two of these units have been defueled and deactivated. The remaining six produce about 16% of Ontario's power and employ 3,000 workers.

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this technology to Candu Energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Nuclear Generating Station</span> Nuclear power station in Ontario, Canada. Largest nuclear power station in Canada

Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. It occupies 932 ha of land. The facility derives its name from Bruce Township, the local municipality when the plant was constructed, now Kincardine due to amalgamation. With eight CANDU pressurized heavy-water reactors, it was the world's largest fully operational nuclear generating station by total reactor count and the number of currently operational reactors until 2016, when it was exceeded in nameplate capacity by South Korea's Kori Nuclear Power Plant. The station is the largest employer in Bruce County, with over 4000 workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darlington Nuclear Generating Station</span> Canadian Nuclear Power Plant

Darlington Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Clarington, Ontario. It is a large nuclear facility comprising four CANDU nuclear reactors with a total output of 3,512 MWe when all units are online, providing about 20 percent of Ontario's electricity needs, enough to serve a city of two million people. The reactor design is significantly more powerful than those used in previous CANDU sites at Pickering and Bruce, making its 4-unit plant the second-largest in Canada behind the 8-unit Bruce. It is named for the Township of Darlington, the name of the municipality in which it is located, which is now part of the amalgamated Municipality of Clarington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station</span> Nuclear power plant in New Brunswick, Canada. CANDU reactor

Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located 2 km northeast of Point Lepreau, New Brunswick, Canada. The facility was constructed between 1975 and 1983 by NB Power, the provincially owned public utility.

Dwight Duncan is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2013 who represented ridings of Windsor—Walkerville, Windsor—St. Clair and Windsor—Tecumseh. He was a senior member in the government of Dalton McGuinty who served in several cabinet roles including Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huron Wind</span> Wind farm in Ontario, Canada

Huron Wind is the first commercial wind farm in Ontario. It is located in the village of Inverhuron, Ontario near Tiverton, and consists of 5 Vestas V80-1.8MW wind turbines. It is next to the Bruce Power Visitor Centre, within sight of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, and adjacent to the larger Enbridge Ontario Wind Farm. Groundbreaking was on July 11, 2002, and it was declared officially in service on December 1, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameco</span> Canada uranium company

Cameco Corporation is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18% of world production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electricity sector in Canada</span>

The electricity sector in Canada has played a significant role in the economic and political life of the country since the late 19th century. The sector is organized along provincial and territorial lines. In a majority of provinces, large government-owned integrated public utilities play a leading role in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Ontario and Alberta have created electricity markets in the last decade to increase investment and competition in this sector of the economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Elgin, Ontario</span> Community in Ontario, Canada

Port Elgin is a community in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. Its location is in the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. Originally named Normanton the town was renamed Port Elgin when it was incorporated in 1874, after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, a former Governor General of the Province of Canada.

Nuclear Power Demonstration was the first Canadian nuclear power reactor, and the prototype for the CANDU reactor design. Built by Canadian General Electric, in partnership with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario it consisted of a single 22 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) unit located in Rolphton, Ontario, not far from AECL's Chalk River Laboratories. NPD was owned by AECL and operated by Ontario Hydro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station</span>

The Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station was Canada’s first full-scale nuclear power plant and the second CANDU pressurised heavy water reactor. Its success was a major milestone and marked Canada's entry into the global nuclear power scene. The same site was later used for the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.

Nuclear power in Canada is provided by 19 commercial reactors with a net capacity of 13.5 gigawatt (GW), producing a total of 95.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, which accounted for 16.6% of the country's total electric energy generation in 2015. All but one of these reactors are located in Ontario, where they produced 61% of the province's electricity in 2019. Seven smaller reactors are used for research and to produce radiopharmaceuticals for use in nuclear medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanticoke Generating Station</span> Former coal-fired power station in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada

The Nanticoke Generating Station was a coal-fired power station in Nanticoke, Ontario in operation from 1972 to 2013. It was the largest coal power station in North America and, at full capacity, it could provide 3,964 MW of power into the southern Ontario power grid from its base in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada, and provided as much as 15% of Ontario's electricity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy Alberta Corporation</span>

Energy Alberta Corporation was created in 2005 with a concept to provide nuclear power to the energy-intensive development of the oil sands resources in northern Alberta, Canada. The company was founded by Hank Swartout, CEO of Precision Drilling Corporation, and Wayne Henuset, co-owner of Willow Park Wines and Spirits in Calgary, Alberta. The company intended to build a nuclear plant on the shore of Lac Cardinal, 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Peace River, Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Power Generation</span> Electric utility company in Canada

Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is wholly owned by the government of Ontario. 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.

Duncan Hawthorne is an international businessman in the electricity industry. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Nuclear Power. He holds an honours degree in control engineering from the Open University and an MBA from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear industry in Canada</span>

Nuclear industry in Canada is an active business and research sector, producing about 15% of its electricity in nuclear power plants of domestic design. Canada is the world's largest exporter of uranium, and has the world's second largest proven reserves. Canada also exports nuclear technology within the terms of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory, and is the world's largest producer of radioactive medical isotopes.

References

  1. From Bruce Power Web Site - Canadian-based consortium officially joins Bruce Power Limited Partnership Archived November 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 "Nuclear Power in Canada - World Nuclear Association". Nuclear Power in Canada. World Nuclear Association. December 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  3. "Unit 1 sets new post-refurbishment long run record". Bruce Power. Bruce Power. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. "From Bruce Power Web Site - Agreement reached to secure Bruce Power's future. Restart of Units 1 and 2 first phase of $4.25 billion investment". Archived from the original on 2008-06-15.
  5. Benzie, Robert (3 December 2015). "Bruce Power to invest $13 billion to refurbish nuclear station on Lake Huron". Toronto Star. Toronto, Canada. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  6. "Bruce Power buys assets of Energy Alberta Corp". Archived from the original on 2008-02-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. "Bruce Power will not proceed with nuclear option in Alberta" (Press release). Bruce Power. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013.
  8. "Bruce Power Ready For Lu-177 Production". Nuclear Street. January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  9. "Bruce Power's Unit 1 sends electricity to Ontario grid for first time in 15 years". Bruce Power press release. Bruce Power. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22.
  10. "Bruce Power's Unit 2 sends electricity to Ontario grid for first time in 17 years". Bruce Power press release. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  11. "Cameco to leave Bruce Power". Nuclear Engineering International. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  12. "Cameco to sell stake in Bruce Power nuclear to OMERS division for $450-million". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  13. Learment, Frances (28 February 2017). "Bright future for Saugeen Shores". Shoreline Beacon. Southampton, Ontario. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  14. "Unit 1 sets new post-refurbishment long run record". Bruce Power. Bruce Power. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  15. "Bruce Power - Nuclear Security Officer/Nuclear Response Team Officer". Power Workers' Union. Retrieved 2022-11-08.