An extensive refurbishment program at the Bruce Power Generating Station is paying off, as Unit 1 at the plant's Bruce A station set a new post-refurbishment record for consecutive days of continuous operation, the Canadian company said.
The record was set on April 14. On that day, the unit had reached 151 consecutive days of operation, Bruce Power announced.
Units 1 and 2 were returned to service in 2012 after an extensive retrofit project as part of the renewal of Bruce A. The project began with the return of Units 3 and 4 in 2003. Those units have also “performed admirably since their refurbishment,” Bruce Power said.
"With this long run, we continue to demonstrate to the people of Ontario that refurbishment of nuclear units is an excellent investment in low-cost, clean energy that will produce reliably for decades," said Senior Vice President for Bruce A Paul Boucher.
The company set a site record for production last year. Through 2015, the plant produced 30 percent of Ontatio's electricity at a price 30 percent less than the average price of residential power.
The plant produced 47.6 terrawatt-hours (TWh) in 2015, which eclipsed the 45.58 TWh of 2014, which was the highest production for the plant since 1991.
Production was fairly evenly split between Bruce A and B facilities. Bruce A produced 22.8 TWh, while Bruce B produced 24.9 TWh.
More refurbishment projects are in store for the huge plant. Bruce Power is slated to begin main component replacement on Units 3-8 in 2020, starting with Unit 6. The projects are expected to create between 1,500 and 2,500 jobs on site annually, while injecting up to $4 billion annually into Ontario's economy, the company estimated.