Bruce Power to spend $13B refurbing reactors

Bruce Power will spend $13 billion to refurbish six of the eight nuclear reactors at its generating station near Kincardine, Ont., and assume all risks for cost overruns, according to joint release. 

The Liberal government announced Thursday that the agreement with Bruce will delay the start of the 15-year refurbishment project until 2020 from the original 2016 start date to squeeze more life out of the existing reactors, Canadian Press reports.

If the refurbishments come in under budget, Bruce Power, which is owned in part by TransCanada Corp., would get a share of the savings.

Hydro consumers shouldn’t be concerned about the four-year delay, because Bruce Power found “innovative ways” to extend the life of its nuclear reactors, said president and CEO Duncan Hawthorne.

Hawthorne said the agreement includes a specific schedule to stagger the work on the reactors to ensure an adequate supply of electricity.

All units at Ontario Power Generation’s Pickering nuclear station will be retired by 2020, and the province also plans to refurbish some of the reactors at OPG’s Darlington station starting near the end of 2016.