The Society has long been lobbying governments at all levels to recognize the central need for maintenance and expansion of Canada’s nuclear fleet in order to meet our clean energy demands if we hope to reach net-zero emissions. Our work is beginning to pay off as the provincial and federal governments have made a number of positive announcements with respect to nuclear energy in the past few months. When combined with the many projects already underway, we are hopeful that we will see greatly expanded nuclear presence in the country’s power grids.
Highlights:
- The Darlington and Bruce Generating Stations are in the middle of large refurbishments and life extension projects. The Bruce refurbishment will add 30 years to the operational life of the reactors, extending the operation of the site until 2064.
- The Ontario government announced that the operation of Pickering NGS will be extended until 2026, and a study is underway to consider refurbishing the plant in order to extend operations beyond that date.
- The Ontario government also announced its intention to expand the Bruce site with a new generating station that would generate an additional 4,800 megawatts of nuclear power.
- OPG has begun the process of developing the first Small Modular Reactor at the Darlington site. They have chosen a technology and are awaiting regulatory approval. The government has announced their intention to proceed with three additional BWRX-300 SMRs at Darlington, bringing the total fleet to four unit, for a total of 1,200 MW of generation.
The Society will be working with our partners and the government to ensure that our members intents are well represented as nuclear production expands.
