Shoreline Power Group (“Shoreline”), a joint venture between Aecon, AtkinsRéalis and United Engineers & Constructors, is proud to celebrate a major milestone with Bruce Power on its Major Component Replacement (MCR), progressing Ontario’s largest clean energy infrastructure project by completing the Unit 3 removal series safely and ahead of schedule.
The removal series was completed faster than in the Unit 6 MCR by leveraging the experience of tradespeople and innovation through lessons learned and technological advancement. The calandria tube removal, completed July 26, set a CANDU refurbishment record, finishing 11 days ahead of schedule.
“I would like to congratulate the entire project team for completing this critical removal series ahead of schedule – an exceptional accomplishment underscoring execution excellence,” said Thomas Clochard, Executive Vice President, Nuclear and Civil. “This achievement demonstrates the success of Shoreline and Aecon in executing complex nuclear work safely, with quality and strong schedule performance while incorporating unit over unit lessons learned.”
The Unit 3 MCR is the second of six refurbishment projects set to extend the Bruce Power site’s operational life to 2064, supporting the efficient and reliable supply of clean energy for Ontarians to power strong economic growth and electrification needs, as well as cancer-fighting medical isotopes for the world health-care community.
Shoreline, ATS Industrial Automation and the MCR project team spent about nine months removing feeder tubes, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and other important internal components of the Unit 3 reactor in preparation for the installation of new parts that will extend the life of the unit for 40 years. Innovations since the Unit 6 MCR outage helped lead to improved performance.
With the removal series complete, millwrights, boilermakers, and electricians from Shoreline will transition to commissioning, operating, and maintaining first-of-a-kind, six-axis robotic tooling for reactor inspection and installation work. This includes the replacement of 960 feeder tubes, 480 fuel channels, and 480 calandria tubes. This work will directly and indirectly create and sustain about 1,500 jobs over the next 15 years in Grey, Bruce and Huron counties, and throughout Ontario.
Bruce Power is also in the final stages of preparation for the Unit 4 MCR outage, scheduled to begin in 2025, while Units 5, 7 and 8 are also slated for refurbishment over the next 10 years.
“We have seen outstanding performance in completing the Unit 3 MCR removal series, meeting or exceeding our targets for safety, quality and schedule,” said Laurent Seigle, Executive Vice-President, Projects, Bruce Power. “Each successive MCR outage brings an opportunity for performance improvement, and we’re committed to returning these units to service safely and successfully to meet Ontario’s clean energy needs well into the future. To execute a project of this scale and complexity, it takes an ecosystem of nuclear professionals to work together toward a common goal. I’m proud of our entire team and I look forward to continuing to safely deliver these MCR projects.”
ATS Industrial Automation has played a primary role in designing, testing, and manufacturing the majority of the highly automated tooling systems that will help the skilled trades enhance performance in the vault. The new automated inspection toolset will help tradespeople clean and inspect thousands of components on both faces of the reactor.
To see some of the innovations coming to the MCR project, check out this video on the new automated Inspection and Installation series tooling.
About Aecon
Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) is a North American construction and infrastructure development company with global experience. Aecon delivers integrated solutions to private and public-sector clients through its Construction segment in the Civil, Urban Transportation, Nuclear, Utility and Industrial sectors, and provides project development, financing, investment, management, and operations and maintenance services through its Concessions segment. Join our online community on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @AeconGroupInc.
For further information:
Nicole Court
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
(416) 297-2600
corpaffairs@aecon.com