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Bruce Nuclear Generating Station
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. It occupies 932 ha (2300 acres) 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, until 2016, it was the world's largest fully operational nuclear generating station by total reactor count and the number of currently operational reactors. In 2016, 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.
Formerly known as the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD), the facility was constructed in stages between 1970 and 1987 by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro. In April 1999 Ontario Hydro was split into 5 component Crown corporations with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) taking over all electrical generating stations. In June 2000, OPG entered into a long-term lease agreement with private sector consortium Bruce Power to take over operation. In May 2001, Bruce Power began operations. The lease was for 18 years until 2019 with an option to extend another 25 years to 2044.
In November 2009, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) renewed Bruce Power's operating licences for 5 years until 2014 and gave permission to refuel units 1 and 2. In May 2014, the CNSC extended the licence to May 2015 and public hearings were scheduled for early 2015 in Ottawa and Kincardine. A new operating licence was granted for 1 June 2015, until 31 May 2020 and was renewed again from 1 October 2018 until 30 September 2028.
In 2023, it was announced that the site could potentially open a third nuclear power station. Bruce C was first proposed in the late 2000s, however it was not proceeded with at the time.
In 2023, the Bruce generating station produced more than 45 TWh of electrical power, about 7% of the total Canadian electricity consumption.[citation needed]
The power plant comprises eight CANDU pressurized heavy-water reactors arranged into two plants (A and B) with four reactors each. Each reactor stands within a reinforced concrete containment. The steam generators are 12 m tall, and weigh 100 tonnes each. Each plant uses three fueling machines, shared between the four reactors, which travel in a duct cut through solid rock beneath the reactors, traversing the entire plant. The duct doubles as part of the pressure relief system, connected to the vacuum building. Each reactor has its own turbine generator set, with one high-pressure turbine and three low-pressure turbines driving one generator. The turbine hall is about 400 m long at each plant and houses the four turbine generator sets. Cooling water is taken from Lake Huron. There is (originally) one control room per 4 reactors.
Construction of Bruce A began in 1969, making it the successor to the Pickering A plant. Bruce A units were originally rated at 750 MWe net / 805 MWe gross, which was later increased to 769 MWe net / 825 MWe gross. As of 2017[update] the Bruce A units were capable of producing up to 779 MWe net according to IESO generator data. Each reactor requires 6240 fuel bundles that weigh 22.5 kg each, or about 140 tonnes of fuel. There are 480 fuel channels per reactor, containing 13 bundles each. There is storage capacity for about 23,000 bundles. Approximately 18 bundles are discharged per reactor per day.
The original Bruce A steam generators utilized a separate large horizontal shared steam drum (with one steam drum common to four steam generators), a design dropped in most other plants at the time. Issues related to the AECL requested design of the tube supports caused repair and delay costs, which exceeded the net worth of the builder Babcock & Wilcox Canada.
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Bruce Nuclear Generating Station
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. It occupies 932 ha (2300 acres) 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, until 2016, it was the world's largest fully operational nuclear generating station by total reactor count and the number of currently operational reactors. In 2016, 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.
Formerly known as the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD), the facility was constructed in stages between 1970 and 1987 by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro. In April 1999 Ontario Hydro was split into 5 component Crown corporations with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) taking over all electrical generating stations. In June 2000, OPG entered into a long-term lease agreement with private sector consortium Bruce Power to take over operation. In May 2001, Bruce Power began operations. The lease was for 18 years until 2019 with an option to extend another 25 years to 2044.
In November 2009, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) renewed Bruce Power's operating licences for 5 years until 2014 and gave permission to refuel units 1 and 2. In May 2014, the CNSC extended the licence to May 2015 and public hearings were scheduled for early 2015 in Ottawa and Kincardine. A new operating licence was granted for 1 June 2015, until 31 May 2020 and was renewed again from 1 October 2018 until 30 September 2028.
In 2023, it was announced that the site could potentially open a third nuclear power station. Bruce C was first proposed in the late 2000s, however it was not proceeded with at the time.
In 2023, the Bruce generating station produced more than 45 TWh of electrical power, about 7% of the total Canadian electricity consumption.[citation needed]
The power plant comprises eight CANDU pressurized heavy-water reactors arranged into two plants (A and B) with four reactors each. Each reactor stands within a reinforced concrete containment. The steam generators are 12 m tall, and weigh 100 tonnes each. Each plant uses three fueling machines, shared between the four reactors, which travel in a duct cut through solid rock beneath the reactors, traversing the entire plant. The duct doubles as part of the pressure relief system, connected to the vacuum building. Each reactor has its own turbine generator set, with one high-pressure turbine and three low-pressure turbines driving one generator. The turbine hall is about 400 m long at each plant and houses the four turbine generator sets. Cooling water is taken from Lake Huron. There is (originally) one control room per 4 reactors.
Construction of Bruce A began in 1969, making it the successor to the Pickering A plant. Bruce A units were originally rated at 750 MWe net / 805 MWe gross, which was later increased to 769 MWe net / 825 MWe gross. As of 2017[update] the Bruce A units were capable of producing up to 779 MWe net according to IESO generator data. Each reactor requires 6240 fuel bundles that weigh 22.5 kg each, or about 140 tonnes of fuel. There are 480 fuel channels per reactor, containing 13 bundles each. There is storage capacity for about 23,000 bundles. Approximately 18 bundles are discharged per reactor per day.
The original Bruce A steam generators utilized a separate large horizontal shared steam drum (with one steam drum common to four steam generators), a design dropped in most other plants at the time. Issues related to the AECL requested design of the tube supports caused repair and delay costs, which exceeded the net worth of the builder Babcock & Wilcox Canada.
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