Bruce Power’s Unit 6 Major Component Replacement (MCR) Project reached a much-anticipated milestone on July 23 with the successful removal of the first steam generator from the station.
“The steam generator replacement is a major milestone for the Unit 6 MCR, and represents years of hard work and collaboration between Bruce Power and our partners like SGRT, BWXT, Mammoet, Nuvia, and the Building Trades Unions,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO. “Bruce Power’s ‘Made in Ontario’ nuclear supply chain supports Canada’s largest private infrastructure and clean energy project, which injects billions into Ontario’s economy and creates and sustains 22,000 high-skilled jobs annually.”
Unit 6 contains eight steam generators which are arranged vertically in two columns of four on the east and west side of the reactor. Each steam generator weighs approximately 320,000 pounds and will be lifted through the powerhouse roof enclosure using Mammoet’s PTC-35 crane. This 1,600-ton capacity crane is one of the largest in the world and features a boom the length of a hockey rink that can stretch over the (7 storeys tall) station and reach the inner-most steam generators.
The new steam generators were fabricated at BWXT in Cambridge and shipped to site in late 2020. Laser topography was conducted on the steam generators to transform them into a 3D layout to verify dimensions prior to the first lift. These will be set in place by Building Trades within a few millimeters tolerance.
The Steam Generator Replacement Team (SGRT), a 50/50 joint venture between Aecon and SGT (a partnership between Framatome and United Engineers & Constructors), is Bruce Power’s vendor responsible for removing the Unit 6 steam generators and was recently awarded a contract to replace the steam generators at Units 3 and 4.
“This first lift was preceded by a half a decade of preparations and was completed successfully thanks to our safe work plan, highly skilled construction trades as well as strong collaboration and communication with our vendor partner, SGRT,” says Eric Chassard, Executive Vice President, Projects & Engineering, Bruce Power. “The team is now focused on the safe execution of the fifteen remaining lifts, which will be finished next month. We’re looking forward to marking off another successful milestone for the MCR project.”
Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is an electricity company based in Bruce County, Ontario.
The story of the Bruce Power site began in the 1960s when Douglas Point, Canada’s first commercial reactor, was built and placed into service. The facility constructed in stages between 1970 and 1987 is located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada.
The construction of the Unit 6 began in January 1978 and commercial operation in 1984. Originally scheduled to be shut down in 2016, a refurbishment was initiated to extend its life.
In 2017 Bruce Power sets site record for output with 49.02 Terawatt-hours, which equalled 34% of Ontario’s electricity.
(Source and image: Bruce Power – Component removal at Bruce Power nuclear station)