Canada to Refurbish Pickering Nuclear Reactors 5, 6, 7, and 8.

[NNadir]

The announcement was just made

OPG Cleared to Refurbish Pickering Reactors in Overhaul Expected to Support Thousands of Jobs

From the text:

Ontario is moving ahead with a major overhaul of one of its most significant nuclear facilities, setting the stage for thousands of new jobs and a long-term boost to the province’s energy supply.

The province has given approval for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to refurbish four CANDU reactors at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, a project aimed at extending the plant’s lifespan and reinforcing the province’s energy stability.


Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce called the station one of the world’s strongest-performing nuclear facilities and said renewing it supports the government’s broader plan to strengthen the workforce and protect Ontario’s economy. He noted that keeping the project’s spending largely within the country—90 per cent, according to the government—helps bolster the Canadian supply chain.

The plan focuses on the Pickering “B” units, numbered 5 through 8. Pending final approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, OPG expects to start the execution phase in early 2027. Work is projected to wrap up by the mid-2030s. When complete, the station’s output is expected to reach roughly 2,200 megawatts, enough to power about 2.2 million homes.

Job creation is a major component of the project: about 30,500 positions are expected during the refurbishment, with another 6,700 roles supported during ongoing operations. The total budget is $26.8 billion, and OPG estimates that the project and continued operations will add $41.6 billion to Canada’s GDP. As part of its commitments, OPG will invest $100 million with Indigenous-owned companies over the course of the refurbishment.

The upgrade is also expected to secure long-term production of Cobalt-60, a medical isotope widely used in cancer therapy and the sterilization of medical tools and food products...

The refurbishment is designed to extend the lifetime of the reactors until the 2070's. Construction of the reactors, which involved a fraction of the cost of the refurbishment, began in the 1970's. The four reactors were connected to the grid between 1982 and 1986.

World Nuclear Database Canada.

There are many media articles besides this one on the topic, including the usual claptrap from ersatz "environmentalists" who say the reactors are not necessary because so called "renewable energy" is so great. There's the usual chanting about cost, waste, danger, blah, blah, blah, although this set couldn't give a rat's ass about dangerous fossil fuel waste, which has left the planet in flames, fossil fuel accidents which kill so frequently that they escape notice, the death toll from air pollution, nor, for that matter the incalculable cost of extreme global heating.

Meanwhile, on burning planet Earth, despite the greatness of so called "renewable energy," Ontario is increasingly reliant on dangerous natural gas for electrical power.

The. "Environmentalists." Couldn't. Care. Less.

Note the quotation marks. I consider myself an environmentalist which is why I support nuclear energy. I do not consider antinukes environmentalists.

The "renewable energy is great" crowd never carries on like this when people build gas plants. They couldn't give a flying a fuck about fossil fuels, never have, never will.

Refurbishing the reactors will cost a lot of money, yes, although Canada has significant experience with this practice from the recent refurbishment of the Darlington and Bruce reactors, more or less on time and on budget. The refurbished reactors represent gifts to the future generations we have screwed with our indifference to fossil fuels.

The CANDU is a heavy water reactor which I believe can play a great role in the nuclear fuel cycle with ternary fuels containing a mixture of plutonium, depleted or once through uranium, and thorium, extending the fuel burn up, breeding enriched fuels, efficiency and nonproliferation value. As far as I know, this is not planned, although historically there was much discussion of the DUPIC cycle, something of a similar idea, but not including the isolation of fission products.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.