​Removal, replacement begin in Unit 3 MCR, following successful preparation work

Bruce Power has reached a milestone in its Unit 3 Major Component Replacement (MCR) outage, beginning the removal and replacement series of key components, following months of safe and successful preparation.

Workers have completed the installation of protective shielding and 16 bulkheads, weighing more than seven tons each, to isolate Unit 3 from the Bruce A operating units. The project, which began March 1, now shifts to the replacement of fuel channels and feeders, key reactor components that will allow Unit 3 to operate safely and reliably, generating clean energy for the people of Ontario for decades to come.

“Building on the successes of the recently-completed Unit 6 MCR outage, our Unit 3 MCR outage continues to leverage innovation and improvements from MCR6,” said Eric Chassard, Bruce Power executive vice-president of projects and engineering. “Shoreline Power Group will now commence work in the vault and will leverage its experience and expertise to complete this work with safety, innovation and quality.”

The removal and replacement of major components includes 480 fuel channels, 960 feeder tubes, eight steam generators, and many other upgrades. This will ultimately allow Bruce Power to return Unit 3 to service with new reactor components to supply clean energy to the province as demand rises in the decades to come.

Shoreline, a joint venture among Aecon, AtkinsRéalis and United Engineers and Constructors, will begin the Fuel Channel Feeder Replacement (FCFR) program, which sees the removal and replacement of pressure tubes, calandria tubes, and feeders inside the reactor. Shoreline completed the FCFR program for Unit 6 and has also been awarded the contract for Bruce Power’s remaining MCR projects in Units 4, 5, 7 and 8.

More than 500 skilled tradespeople have been hired by Shoreline over the past two months, while ATS Automation has delivered the robotic tooling, which will be used to replace components, to the MCR Training Facility in Kincardine, where workers have been preparing and training.

“Shoreline is committed to partnering with Bruce Power to deliver each MCR outage more efficiently than the previous by leveraging our experience and innovation,” said Jean-Louis Servranckx, president and chief executive officer of Aecon, on behalf of Shoreline Power Group. “Ontario’s nuclear industry and skilled tradespeople are delivering refurbishment projects safely, on-time, with quality and on-budget.”

Bruce Power’s Life Extension Program started in 2016 and remains on track with inspections, refurbishment, and MCRs progressing well. Unit 6 was returned to service ahead of schedule in September and was the first of six units that Bruce Power and its partners will refurbish as part of its MCR Project between 2020 and 2033, a privately-funded investment that will extend the life of the site through 2064 and beyond.

Bruce Power’s MCR project will help power Ontario forward at a time when the province’s electricity demands are continuing to rise and its move to a clean energy supply evolves, to help achieve its climate change goals. Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program, which includes asset optimization across all eight operating units as part of the company’s Project 2030, is expected to produce more than 7,000 Megawatts of clean power, following the completion of the MCR Project.