Community Matters: Bruce Power, OPG working together to achieve success

With refurbishment and life-extension plans for the Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) nuclear reactors well under way, the two companies have focused on working together to achieve success.

Both companies are on similar paths to success. Four OPG reactors at Darlington are slated for refurbishment – Unit 2’s project is more than 60 per cent complete, and remains on-time and on-budget. And Bruce Power’s six-unit Life Extension Program is on-time and on-budget.

That’s what makes our ongoing collaboration so important. We’re finding efficiencies in each other’s supply procurement processes, program planning, and during the execution of work, which makes both organizations stronger and will help us achieve our goals – to supply Ontario families and businesses with low-cost, carbon-free and reliable electricity for decades.

This collaboration also fulfils a Memorandum of Understanding we jointly signed in 2016, which outlines how our organizations will improve efficiencies during the province’s nuclear refurbishment programs, and through station operations.

While success during this period of refurbishment is important to both Bruce Power and OPG, what may not be recognized is the importance of our success to the province as a whole. Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program will provide 22,000 people with jobs, directly and indirectly, across Ontario through 2064, while injecting $4-billion into the province’s economy annually. When you consider OPG’s refurbishment and ongoing operations, the positive impact of Ontario’s nuclear industry increases dramatically.

Another area both organizations are helping Ontarians, is in the medical industry, as Bruce Power and OPG both produce medical isotopes that sterilize single-use medical devices and treat cancer. With the world’s demand for medical isotopes rising by an estimated five per cent annually, Ontario’s nuclear industry is at the forefront of this important technology, which is saving lives globally.

During all of these efforts, the province’s support has remained steadfast and, in a report released in 2017, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) validated the benefits of extending the province’s nuclear fleet. In its report, the FAO cites the Bruce and Darlington nuclear refurbishments as the best generating options to keep costs low for electricity customers and to protect the environment.

With contracts signed, hundreds of local suppliers, and the creation of thousands of jobs across the province, the Darlington Refurbishment Project and Bruce’s Life-Extension Program are Made in Ontario ventures that are generating billions of dollars in economic and environmental benefits for the province.

We have outlined how our collaboration has been a success in the report, "Power Ontario Together," which can be downloaded at brucepower.com.

By continuing to focus on collaboration as we work toward our goals, both Bruce Power and OPG will achieve success together.

As always, feel free to email me at james.scongack@brucepower.com or on Twitter @jscongack.