Unit 6 at the Bruce nuclear power station in Canada has achieved criticality as it nears a return to service following a major component replacement project.
The initial fission or “approach to critical” comes following Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approval to begin releasing the unit from a guaranteed shutdown state.
This enables the many commissioning activities to be completed on the newly installed systems to verify everything is working as expected.
Bruce Power’s life extension programme started in 2016 and remains on track with inspections, refurbishment, and major component replacement progressing.