Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station
Encyclopedia
Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian
nuclear power station located 2 km northeast of Point Lepreau
, New Brunswick
. The facility was constructed between 1975-1983 by NB Power
, the provincially-owned public utility
.
The facility derives its name from the nearby headland situated at the easternmost part of Charlotte County
, although the generating station itself is located several hundred meters inside Saint John County
. It is administratively part of the local service district
of Musquash, west of the city of Saint John
.
The Point Lepreau station is the only nuclear facility located in Atlantic Canada
and comprises 1 CANDU nuclear reactor
located on the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy
, having a net capacity of 635 MW (680 MW gross).
Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
's Chalk River Laboratories
in Ontario
, to keep abreast of the latest trends in the field. Formal talks between Premier Richard Hatfield
and the Canadian government began in 1972. Discussions accelerated the next year, in the midst of the 1973 oil crisis
, as the province was looking for ways to diversify its electricity supply and reduce its reliance on oil
. However, financing the venture was a problem since the province had a limited borrowing capacity.
The last obstacle was lifted by the federal government in January 1974, with the announcement of a loan program covering half the costs of a first nuclear plant in a province. Hatfield announced his intention to build a first reactor in New Brunswick on February 5, 1974. Reelected in the fall
, despite misgivings by part of the population, the Progressive Conservative
government follows through with the plan. In March 1975, Hatfield declared on television that the decision was final, and that the reactor would be built regardless of the on-going environmental assessment process, in a move described by New Brunswick sociologist Ronald Babin as the "nuclear fait accompli
policy".
On May 2, 1975, the Atomic Energy Control Board
authorized the construction of two 635-MW reactors on a site designed to host four in Point Lepreau, 20 km west of Saint John, New Brunswick's largest city. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission
began the construction of one reactor, with an option for a second one.
At its peak in 1979, the construction project employed 3,500 workers and 108 individual contracts out of 139, were granted to local businesses. Point Lepreau was licensed for operation on July 21, 1982, achieved criticality four days later and began commercial operations on February 1, 1983.
Tense labour relations on the worksite and skyrocketing construction costs, a common trait among large infrastructure projects built in that period, tripled the early forecasts. The estimated price tag of C$466 million in 1974 increased to C$684 two years later and to C$895 in 1978. At the time of its commissioning in 1983, the total cost was estimated at C$1.4 billion, excluding interest charges.
In 1990, assistant plant operator Daniel George Maston was charged after he took a sample of heavy water
from the moderator system and loaded it into a "sport mix" drink dispenser in an industrial lunch zone. It was not loaded in a water cooler in an office. Eight employees drank some of the contaminated water. One individual who was engaged in heat stress work, requiring alternating work, rest, and re-hydration periods consumed significantly more than the others. The incident was discovered when employees began leaving bio-assay urine samples with elevated tritium levels, one with particularly and unusually high levels. The quantities involved were well below levels which could induce heavy water toxicity, but several employees received elevated radiation doses from tritium and activated chemicals in the water. It is believed that Maston intended the exposure to be a practical joke, whereby the affected employees would be required to give urine samples daily for an extended length of time.
was designed to last 25 years and was scheduled to be mothballed by 2008. Public debate on the future of the plant began as early as 2000. At the time, NB Power estimated the refurbishment cost at C$750 million.
In 2002, NB Power, with support from the Government and opposition, pushed for refurbishment. However, the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board ruled that "there is no significant economic advantage to the proposed refurbishment" of Point Lepreau and that "it is not in the public interest".
In April 2004, a report authored by former British Energy
chairman Robin Jeffrey estimated the plant's refurbishment would cost 1.36 billion instead of the C$935 million figure quoted at the time by the provincial utility. Jeffrey's report made no recommendations on whether to undertake the plant's overhaul or not but advised New Brunswick decision makers to seek competitive bids for new fossil-fuel fired generation capacity.
Despite being denied a federal grant to fund the project, NB Power announced on July 29, 2005 that it was awarding Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
a $1.4 billion (CAD) contract for refurbishing the generating station.
, eventually sued four companies in an Ontario court, including J. D. Irving Ltd.
, for "gross negligence" in the incident.
Estimates for the reopening of the plant have been revised several times. In January 2009, a 3-month delay was announced because of problems with the robotic equipment used to remove pressure tubes. A second, 4-month delay was announced in July of the same year In October 2009, New Brunswick minister of Energy, Jack Keir, announced a tentative reopening by February 2011 and asked for federal
money to cope with the unexpected cost of purchased power to replace the power ordinarily generated by the plant. The situation is compounded by the strategic importance of the plant in NB Power supply plans, since Point Lepreau provides 4 TWh/year or between 25 to 30% of the provincial output.
A few weeks later, on October 29, 2009, Point Lepreau was one of the assets planned to be sold off to Hydro-Québec
, in the proposed sale of NB Power
However, on March 24, 2010, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham
announced the deal had fallen through, citing Hydro-Québec's "concerns about unanticipated costs". However, this interpretation was contested by analysts, who blamed the collapse of the deal on the difficult political situation in New Brunswick, six months before a scheduled provincial election.
According to leaked internal documents, the proposed sale and a proposed post-refurbishment staff reorganization had a negative impact on workers' morale at the plant and became a safety concern. Over 600 workplace injuries occurred at Point Lepreau between January 2009 and June 2010, including 7 "lost time", 13 "restricted work" injuries and 32 incidents requiring medical aid. According to the internal reports, delays have cost the company C$33 million a month: "C$11 in capital costs and C$22 million for replacement power and interest".
On October 9, 2010, NB Power announced that AECL would have to remove all 380 calandria tubes from the reactor and reinstall them a second time, an operation which took a year earlier in the refurbishment program. The calandria tubes, roughly 7 m (23 ft) and 13 cm (5.1 in), hold the pressure tubes fueling the reactor. According to an internal report dated June 30, 2010, the problem "is likely the result of damage to the tube sheet bores caused by the cleaning operation in a previous work series". According to an October 2010 estimate, the generating station is now scheduled to be back on stream in the fall of 2012, three years later than first expected.
at Point Lepreau, to supply power to New England
.
In July 2010, the New Brunswick Liberal government signed an agreement with French nuclear manufacturer Areva
to study the feasibility of a new light water nuclear plant on the Point Lepreau property. The plan was shelved by the incoming premier shortly after the election of a Conservative government. in September 2010.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
nuclear power station located 2 km northeast of Point Lepreau
Point Lepreau
Point Lepreau is a cape located in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada.It is located at the southern tip of a 10 km long peninsula that extends into the Bay of Fundy...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. The facility was constructed between 1975-1983 by NB Power
NB Power
NB Power , formerly known as New Brunswick Power Corporation and New Brunswick Electric Power Commission is the primary and former monopoly electrical utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick...
, the provincially-owned public utility
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
.
The facility derives its name from the nearby headland situated at the easternmost part of Charlotte County
Charlotte County, New Brunswick
Charlotte County is located in the southwestern portion of New Brunswick, Canada.In most of the county, fishing and aquaculture dominate the local economy, although the town of St. Andrews is a tourist mecca and St...
, although the generating station itself is located several hundred meters inside Saint John County
Saint John County, New Brunswick
St. John County is located in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The city of Saint John dominates the county. In the rest of the county, tourists flock to see the many scenic views on the Bay of Fundy.-Communities:...
. It is administratively part of the local service district
Local service district
A local service district is a unit of rural municipal government in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador which cover areas outside incorporated cities, towns and villages for provision of municipal services such as fire protection, garbage disposal and sewage.- New...
of Musquash, west of the city of Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
.
The Point Lepreau station is the only nuclear facility located in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
and comprises 1 CANDU nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
located on the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
, having a net capacity of 635 MW (680 MW gross).
History
The construction of a nuclear plant in New Brunswick has been discussed since the late 1950s. For over 15 years, engineers from the New Brunswick Electric Power CommissionThe company was renamed Énergie NB Power in the 1970s. visited federalGovernment of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory...
's Chalk River Laboratories
Chalk River Laboratories
The Chalk River Laboratories is a Canadian nuclear research facility located near Chalk River, about north-west of Ottawa in the province of Ontario.CRL is a site of major research and development to support and advance nuclear technology, in particular CANDU reactor...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, to keep abreast of the latest trends in the field. Formal talks between Premier Richard Hatfield
Richard Hatfield
Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...
and the Canadian government began in 1972. Discussions accelerated the next year, in the midst of the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, as the province was looking for ways to diversify its electricity supply and reduce its reliance on oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
. However, financing the venture was a problem since the province had a limited borrowing capacity.
The last obstacle was lifted by the federal government in January 1974, with the announcement of a loan program covering half the costs of a first nuclear plant in a province. Hatfield announced his intention to build a first reactor in New Brunswick on February 5, 1974. Reelected in the fall
New Brunswick general election, 1974
The 28th New Brunswick general election was held on November 18, 1974, to elect 58 members to the 48th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada...
, despite misgivings by part of the population, the Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick
The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right political party in New Brunswick, Canada. It has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granting of responsible government to the colony...
government follows through with the plan. In March 1975, Hatfield declared on television that the decision was final, and that the reactor would be built regardless of the on-going environmental assessment process, in a move described by New Brunswick sociologist Ronald Babin as the "nuclear fait accompli
Fait Accompli
Fait accompli is a French phrase which means literally "an accomplished deed". It is commonly used to describe an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it...
policy".
On May 2, 1975, the Atomic Energy Control Board
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission , previously known as the Atomic Energy Control Board , is the governmental nuclear power and materials watchdog in Canada...
authorized the construction of two 635-MW reactors on a site designed to host four in Point Lepreau, 20 km west of Saint John, New Brunswick's largest city. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission
NB Power
NB Power , formerly known as New Brunswick Power Corporation and New Brunswick Electric Power Commission is the primary and former monopoly electrical utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick...
began the construction of one reactor, with an option for a second one.
At its peak in 1979, the construction project employed 3,500 workers and 108 individual contracts out of 139, were granted to local businesses. Point Lepreau was licensed for operation on July 21, 1982, achieved criticality four days later and began commercial operations on February 1, 1983.
Tense labour relations on the worksite and skyrocketing construction costs, a common trait among large infrastructure projects built in that period, tripled the early forecasts. The estimated price tag of C$466 million in 1974 increased to C$684 two years later and to C$895 in 1978. At the time of its commissioning in 1983, the total cost was estimated at C$1.4 billion, excluding interest charges.
Operations
The Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station achieved record levels of availability with a 10-year average of 93.11% and generated over 5,000 GWh/year of energy on a sustained basis for its first decade of operations. However, numerous problems started to surface in the mid to late 1990s, due to poor maintenance and low investment. In mid-January 1997, a leak in the reactor core forced a third shutdown in 2 years. The 75-day stoppage was caused by an unlocked feeder pipe. The human error cost C$40 million in repairs and C$450,000/day to purchase replacement power from Quebec.In 1990, assistant plant operator Daniel George Maston was charged after he took a sample of heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
from the moderator system and loaded it into a "sport mix" drink dispenser in an industrial lunch zone. It was not loaded in a water cooler in an office. Eight employees drank some of the contaminated water. One individual who was engaged in heat stress work, requiring alternating work, rest, and re-hydration periods consumed significantly more than the others. The incident was discovered when employees began leaving bio-assay urine samples with elevated tritium levels, one with particularly and unusually high levels. The quantities involved were well below levels which could induce heavy water toxicity, but several employees received elevated radiation doses from tritium and activated chemicals in the water. It is believed that Maston intended the exposure to be a practical joke, whereby the affected employees would be required to give urine samples daily for an extended length of time.
Public debate
Point Lepreau's CANDU-6 reactorCANDU reactor
The CANDU reactor is a Canadian-invented, pressurized heavy water reactor. The acronym refers to its deuterium-oxide moderator and its use of uranium fuel...
was designed to last 25 years and was scheduled to be mothballed by 2008. Public debate on the future of the plant began as early as 2000. At the time, NB Power estimated the refurbishment cost at C$750 million.
In 2002, NB Power, with support from the Government and opposition, pushed for refurbishment. However, the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board ruled that "there is no significant economic advantage to the proposed refurbishment" of Point Lepreau and that "it is not in the public interest".
In April 2004, a report authored by former British Energy
British Energy
British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal fired power station....
chairman Robin Jeffrey estimated the plant's refurbishment would cost 1.36 billion instead of the C$935 million figure quoted at the time by the provincial utility. Jeffrey's report made no recommendations on whether to undertake the plant's overhaul or not but advised New Brunswick decision makers to seek competitive bids for new fossil-fuel fired generation capacity.
Despite being denied a federal grant to fund the project, NB Power announced on July 29, 2005 that it was awarding Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory...
a $1.4 billion (CAD) contract for refurbishing the generating station.
Refurbishment work
The refurbishment of the power station began on March 28, 2008 and was originally scheduled to last 18 months and the lead contractor on the project is AECL. But the operation was marred by technical glitches, delays and incidents. For instance, two 115-tonne turbine rotors, worth C$10 million each, toppled a barge in Saint John Harbour while being transported to the plant on October 15, 2008. The part manufacturer, Siemens Canada Ltd.Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, eventually sued four companies in an Ontario court, including J. D. Irving Ltd.
J. D. Irving
J.D. Irving Limited is a privately owned conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Its activities include many industries: forestry, paper products, agriculture, food processing, transportation, shipbuilding...
, for "gross negligence" in the incident.
Estimates for the reopening of the plant have been revised several times. In January 2009, a 3-month delay was announced because of problems with the robotic equipment used to remove pressure tubes. A second, 4-month delay was announced in July of the same year In October 2009, New Brunswick minister of Energy, Jack Keir, announced a tentative reopening by February 2011 and asked for federal
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
money to cope with the unexpected cost of purchased power to replace the power ordinarily generated by the plant. The situation is compounded by the strategic importance of the plant in NB Power supply plans, since Point Lepreau provides 4 TWh/year or between 25 to 30% of the provincial output.
A few weeks later, on October 29, 2009, Point Lepreau was one of the assets planned to be sold off to Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
, in the proposed sale of NB Power
Proposed sale of NB Power
The proposed sale of NB Power was an attempted takeover of New Brunswick's government-owned public utility assets by Hydro-Québec, Canada's largest utility...
However, on March 24, 2010, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham
Shawn Graham
Shawn Michael Graham, MLA is a New Brunswick politician, who served as the 31st Premier of New Brunswick. He received a Bachelor of Physical Education Degree in 1991 and a Bachelor of Education Degree in 1993, he worked for New Brunswick's civil service before being elected to the Legislative...
announced the deal had fallen through, citing Hydro-Québec's "concerns about unanticipated costs". However, this interpretation was contested by analysts, who blamed the collapse of the deal on the difficult political situation in New Brunswick, six months before a scheduled provincial election.
According to leaked internal documents, the proposed sale and a proposed post-refurbishment staff reorganization had a negative impact on workers' morale at the plant and became a safety concern. Over 600 workplace injuries occurred at Point Lepreau between January 2009 and June 2010, including 7 "lost time", 13 "restricted work" injuries and 32 incidents requiring medical aid. According to the internal reports, delays have cost the company C$33 million a month: "C$11 in capital costs and C$22 million for replacement power and interest".
On October 9, 2010, NB Power announced that AECL would have to remove all 380 calandria tubes from the reactor and reinstall them a second time, an operation which took a year earlier in the refurbishment program. The calandria tubes, roughly 7 m (23 ft) and 13 cm (5.1 in), hold the pressure tubes fueling the reactor. According to an internal report dated June 30, 2010, the problem "is likely the result of damage to the tube sheet bores caused by the cleaning operation in a previous work series". According to an October 2010 estimate, the generating station is now scheduled to be back on stream in the fall of 2012, three years later than first expected.
Possible second reactor
In 2007, Team CANDU, a consortium of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Babcock & Wilcox Canada, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc., Hitachi Canada Ltd and SNC-Lavalin Nuclear Limited began a $2.5 million feasibility study regarding the installation of a new 1,100 MWe Advanced CANDU ReactorAdvanced CANDU Reactor
The Advanced CANDU Reactor is a Generation III+ nuclear reactor design and is a further development of existing CANDU reactors designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. The ACR is a light-water-cooled reactor that incorporates features of both Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors and Advanced...
at Point Lepreau, to supply power to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
.
In July 2010, the New Brunswick Liberal government signed an agreement with French nuclear manufacturer Areva
Areva
AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...
to study the feasibility of a new light water nuclear plant on the Point Lepreau property. The plan was shelved by the incoming premier shortly after the election of a Conservative government. in September 2010.