(June 13, 2003) There are 22 CANDU power reactors in Canada, of which 20 are in the province of Ontario, one in Quebec and one in New Brunswick. As these CANDU reactors have aged, they have experienced increasing technical problems and dramatically poorer performance. Although it was assumed that reactors would last for 40 years, they are typically experiencing serious operational problems much earlier. At the end of 1997 and the beginning of 1998, a number of reactors was temporarily shut down. The shutdown was followed by expensive upgrades and the first reactor is about to restart this summer. (All cost figures are in CDN$ (1 CDN$ = 0.75 US$)).
(588.5522) Sierra Club of Canada - As a consequence of the problems, Ontario Hydro (the generating wing of which is now Ontario Power Generation - OPG) announced in August 1997 that it would temporarily shut down its oldest seven reactors because of poor performance and safety concerns.
This included four 515 MW reactors at the Pickering "A" nuclear power station, just east of Toronto, and three 848 MW reactors at the Bruce "A" nuclear power station on the shore of Lake Huron near the town of Kincardine, Ontario Hydro had already shut down reactor 2 at the Bruce "A" station in October 1995.
The four Bruce "A" reactors lasted on average less than half of their expected 40-year lifetimes, before being shut down for long-term repair work. The Pickering "A" reactors lasted only 25 years, despite having been re-tubed at a cost of CDN$1 billion following a disastrous pressure tube break at Pickering reactor 2 in 1983.
Fuel in CANDU reactors is placed in "tubes", channels through which the coolant water flows inside a big tank of heavy water (the so called calandria). The replacement of tubes has been characterized as a 'heart transplant' for a CANDU reactor - essentially the reactor is re-built, requiring an extended outage for the plant, at an extremely high cost.
The shutdowns left Ontario Power Generation with 12 reactors in operation - four at the Pickering "B" station; four at the Bruce "B" station; and four at the Darlington station. The closure of the eight reactors at Pickering "A" and Bruce "A" was the largest single long-term nuclear shutdown by any nuclear utility in the world.
Pickering "A"
The case of the four Pickering A reactors provides an instructive lesson as why nuclear refurbishment is ill-advised, In August 1983 a disastrous pressure tube rupture occurred in Pickering Reactor 2, and all four reactors at the Pickering A station were shut down.
The pressure tubes of each reactor were replaced in succession between 1983 and 1993. The retubing of the four reactors cost about CDN$1 billion (dollars of the years '83-'93) - more than their original capital cost.
As noted above, despite this enormous investment, the reactors were shut down just a few years later at 31 December 1997 because of technical and performance problems.
A controversial low level ('screening') environmental assessment was conducted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) from 1999-2000, and approved in February 2001. That assessment was condemned by environmental groups as a whitewash for failing to deal with vital issues such as severe accidents, the need for restart, financial cost, and energy alternatives.
When the four old Pickering A reactors were shut down on 31 December 1997, the first reactor (Unit 4) was supposed to restart in June 2000, with the remaining three to be restarted at six month intervals (to be completely operational by June 2002).
OPG now hopes to have Pickering Reactor 4 in commercial service in July 2003, and is no longer making any public commitment for the restart of reactors 1, 2, and 3. if they are restarted at all, it has been suggested that reactors 1, 2, and 3 might be restarted at one-year intervals.
The cost of the Pickering A restart has escalated from CDN$800 million in 1999 to CDN$1.025 billion at the end of September 2002, It is estimated that the start-up of Reactor 4 will cost another CDN$230 million, and the additional three reactors will cost CDN$300 to CDN$400 million each, Thus the cost for restarting reactor 4 alone will be CDN$1.255 billion, with a likely additional CDN$1.2 billion for the other three reactors, totaling CDN$2.455 billion.
On 30 May 2003, the Government of Ontario appointed a tribunal to review the delays and cost overruns on the refurbishment of the Pickering "A" station. The Sierra Club of Canada has condemned the review as a whitewash. The head of the review is former federal energy minister Jake Epp. notorious for his support of nuclear power. Another member of the tribunal is Robin Jeffrey, who oversaw the financial collapse in 2002 of British Energy, the United Kingdom nuclear company.
| Table: status, plans and costs of Canadian reactors | |||||
| First criticality | Status (2003) | Plans | Costs | Remarks | |
|
Pickering "A" -1 -2 -3 -4 |
1971 1971 1972 1973 |
closed (1997) closed (1997) closed (1997) closed (1997) |
- 1/3: restart between 2004-2006 - 4: restart July 2003 |
- 1/4 tube replacement (1983-1993) at CDN$ 1 billion - restart 1/3: CDN$ 1.2 billion - restart 4: CDN$ 1.255 billion |
- 1983: tube rupture reactor 2 - 1999-2000: environmental assessment on restart - 2003: tribunal to review delays and cost overruns |
|
Pickering "B" -5/8 |
1982-1985 | operational | -- | -- | -- |
|
Bruce A -1 -2 -3 -4 |
1976 1976 1977 1978 |
closed (1998) closed (1995) closed (1998) closed (1998) |
-1/2: restart unknown: -need tube replacement -3/4: restart summer 2003 |
-restart 3/4: CDN$ 550 million |
-1986: tube rupture reactor 2 -2003: no retubing planned at reactor 3/4 |
|
Bruce B -5/8 |
1984-1987 |
operational |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Darlington -1/4 |
1989-1993 |
operational |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| Gentilly -2 | 1982 | operational |
-refurbishment 2008-2009 |
-- | -- |
| Point Lepreau -1 | 1982 | operational | -1998: decision for complete tube replacement 2006-2008 | -estimated CDN$ 845 million | -2002: utility board proposes cancelling tube replacement |
Bruce "A"
The case of the Bruce "A" reactors also provides cause for concern about nuclear refurbishment. The eight reactors at the Bruce nuclear complex on the shore of Lake Huron in Ontario were leased from Ontario Power Generation in May 2001 by Bruce Power for eighteen years.
The Bruce complex includes four 769 MW reactors at the Bruce "A" station and four 860 MW reactors at the Bruce "B" station, While the four Bruce "B" reactors continue to operate, reactor 2 at the Bruce "A" nuclear station was shut down in October 1995, and reactors 1, 3 and 4 were shut down in March 1998 because of technical problems and poor performance.
In November 2000, Bruce Power hired Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) as the general contractor to lead an internal "inspection and condition assessment" of 70 fuel channels as well as steam generators for Bruce A reactors 3 and 4. The assessment cost CDN$30 million and was intended to determine if the re-commissioning of the reactors was economically justified.
On 6 April 2001, Bruce Power announced that it intended to restart reactors 3 and 4 at the Bruce "A" station. At that time, Bruce Power expected that the reactors would be restarted in the summer of 2003 at a total cost of about CDN$340 million.
The estimated refurbishment cost has escalated to CDN$550 million, and the restart schedule has been speeded up to have reactor 4 restarting this summer, and reactor 3 shortly afterwards.
There are serious safety concerns with restart of the two Bruce reactors. There have been at least two cases of catastrophic pressure tube ruptures in Ontario reactors:
August 1983 at Pickering 2 and March 1986 at Bruce 2. All fuel channels at the Pickering A station reactors were replaced after the 1983 accident. Bruce reactors 1 and 2 will require complete retubing if they are ever to be restarted.
Some individual tubes at Bruce reactors have been replaced in the past, but Bruce Power is taking a calculated risk, trading off safety against profit by arguing that complete replacement of fuel channels is not necessary at Bruce reactors 3 and 4.
Bruce Power has taken this controversial position despite having inspected only 7% of tubes. Complete retubing of the reactors would more than double the estimated CDN$550 million restart cost as well as extending the outage time.
Other reactors
Outside of Ontario, there are only two nuclear power reactors in Canada
- one operated by Hydro Québec (Gentilly-2) and one operated by New Brunswick Power (Point Lepreau).
Both nuclear stations are single unit CANDU-6 reactors, i.e. 635 MW reactors, designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). They both reached criticality in 1982, and at twenty years of age both reactors need full-scale refurbishment if they are to continue operating.
Point Lepreau
The Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is owned and operated by New Brunswick Power, and was designed by AECL. Like other reactors of the period, the Point Lepreau plant was intended to run for 40 years, however, after less than twenty years, the reactor experienced serious performance and safety problems.
In 1998, an NB Power consultant decided that the plant would require total replacement of all 380 fuel channels in the 2006-2008 period. As the first phase of a plan to retube and refurbish Point Lepreau, NB Power retained AECL in January 2001 to conduct a two-year assessment of the project at a cost of CDN$40 million.
According to the original schedule devised by AECL, Work Commencement was supposed to begin in February 2003. The plant would be shut down for an estimated 18 months beginning in April 2006, with project completion in September 2007. The total estimated cost of the project is CDN$845 million.
In January 2002, New Brunswick Power filed an application to the New Brunswick Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities (known as the Public Utilities Board or PUB) to hold a public hearing on the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station. The PUB released its decision on 24 September 2002.
The PUB noted that its review was made from an economic perspective, but with a public interest viewpoint. The decision was a stunning rejection of AECL's refurbishment proposal as put forward by NB Power.
"The Board [...] finds that there is no significant economic advantage to the proposed refurbishment project. In addition, the Board considers that there are other significant aspects of the refurbishment option [which] is not in the public interest. The Board, therefore, will recommend to the Board of Directors of NB Power that it not proceed with the refurbishment of Point Lepreau."
In November 2002, NB Power retained a consulting firm to seek a purchaser or equity partners for Point Lepreau. The New Brunswick government and NB Power have also been seeking additional federal support for the refurbishment project. No decision has yet been made to proceed with the refurbishment.
Gentilly-2
Hydro Québec undertook an agreement in 1973 with the federal government to build Gentilly-2 a standard AECL-designed CANDU-6 built at Bécancour, near Trois Rivières.
The federal government agreed to finance 50% of the estimated CDN$302 million capital cost of Gentilly-2 at a special low interest rate.
However, Hydro Québec was solely responsible for the billion dollar cost overrun which saw the capital cost of the plant soar to CDN$1.36 billion by the time it achieved first criticality in September 1982 - quadrupling the original estimate. Not surprisingly, the Québec government declared a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction in 1978.
In the 2001-2002 fiscal year, AECL signed contracts with Hydro Québec for the Gentilly-2 refurbishment pre-engineering work. In February 2002, Hydro Québec gave a 'notice of project' for the refurbishment of Gentilly-2 to the Quebec Ministry of the Environment.
A decision is expected by the Hydro Québec Board of Directors in 2003, followed by the filing of an environmental impact study in the fall of 2003, which will allow engineering and tendering to take place by 2005.
Enlargement of the radioactive waste facility would take place in 2006 and 2007, and the plant would be shut down for an 18 month period for the main refurbishment work from April 2008 to September 2009.
Given the position against the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear station taken by the New Brunswick Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities, it is logical that Province of Québec should reconsider its commitment to refurbish Gentilly-2.
The Point Lepreau and Gentilly-2 plants are virtual duplicates, built at the same time with the same technology.
Source and contact: Sierra Club of Canada Nuclear Campaign, Dave Martin, Policy Advisor, c/o P.O. Box 104 Uxbridge. Ontario, Canada L9P 1 M6
Tel/fax: + 1-905-852-0571
Email: nucaware@web.ca
Web: www.sierraclub.ca/national