Bruce-6 gets first of eight new steam generators
The first of eight 160-ton steam generators for Unit 6 at Canada’s Bruce nuclear power plant was installed last week as part of the facility’s major component replacement project. “Congrats to the MCR team and our partners, including @AeconGroup, @Framatome_CA, @UEandC, @mammoetglobal, @BWXT, and others who contributed to this historic moment,” Bruce Power tweeted on September 30.
The component was fabricated at BWXT Canada’s Cambridge, Ontario, location and was shipped to the Bruce site in late 2020, as shown in this video.
The vendor responsible for generator removal is the Steam Generator Replacement Team (SGRT), a 50-50 joint venture between Aecon and the Steam Generating Team, itself a partnership between Framatome and United Engineers & Constructors. In July, Framatome announced that SGRT had been awarded an approximately C$350 million (about $278 million) contract by Bruce Power to replace the steam generators at Units 3 and 4.
A new steam generator from BWXT Canada is lowered into place September 30 at Bruce-6. (Photo: Bruce Power)
Background: In December 2015, Bruce Power reached an agreement with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator to advance a long-term investment program aimed at refurbishing the company’s nuclear fleet and securing the Bruce plant’s operation until 2064.
The plant’s life-extension program started in January 2016 and involves the gradual replacement of older systems in Bruce’s eight CANDU units during regularly scheduled maintenance outages. As part of this effort, Bruce Power began the major component replacement project in January of last year, with a focus on replacing key reactor components in Units 3–8, including steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes, and feeder tubes.
