| An Article in the July 30 National Post says that
the Bruce Post will be able to restart two of the idle units at its Bruce
A nuclear station ahead of schedule. According to the Post, Unit 4 of Bruce A could be supplying electricity to as early as next April, ahead of its planned restart of the summer of 2003, and Unit 3 would follow "shortly afterward," on the condition it gets regulatory approval from the federal nuclear regulator. Adding the two units would bring another 1,500 megawatts (MW) of power to Ontario's market, making for a total of 4,6000 MW or about 15% of the Ontario electricity market, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator . (One megawatt can serve 1,000 households.) Ontario Power Generation has yet to restart its big Pickering nuclear facility and is rumoured to be over budget and well behind schedule. The Bruce Power nuclear facility, the largest in North America, consists of two complexes: Bruce A and Bruce B, each containing four reactors. Bruce B is currently operating, while Bruce A has been mothballed since 1998. The Bruce B, at full capacity, can provide 3,200 megawatts of power to Ontarians. However, one of the units in Bruce B is down for maintenance and, rumour has it, is experiencing difficulties in its maintenance schedule. According to Bruce Power CEO Duncan Hawthorne, British Energy (majority owner in the Bruce Power lease of the Bruce facilities in Inverhuron, Ontario) earns about $49-million per unit with four reactors on stream, and that will increase to $61-million per unit once Bruce A's Units 3 and 4 are restarted.Bruce Power is expected to spend about $800-million to replace turbines and complete upgrades on the four reactors at the Bruce B generating station. |