Paul Vieira
National Post
July 30, 2002

The Bruce Power consortium, made up of British Energy PLC and Cameco Corp., says it will be able to restart two of the idle units at its Bruce A nuclear station ahead of schedule, which will boost profit and provide Ontarians with much-needed power before next summer.

Duncan Hawthorne, Bruce Power’s chief executive, said yesterday Unit 4 of Bruce A could be supplying electricity to the Ontario market 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, and go a long way toward alleviating the strain the province’s power system is currently under. It may also put downward pressure on electricity prices. (One megawatt can serve 1,000 households.)

Reserve power margins are tight in the province, largely because new plants have not come on board as quickly as expected and Ontario Power Generation has yet to restart its big Pickering nuclear facility. Earlier this summer, a power warning was issued, saying the province could be hit with rolling brownouts unless consumers cut back on power consumption.

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, or 15% of the province’s $10-billion market. However, one of the units in Bruce B is down for maintenance, but is expected to be up and running shortly.

Bringing two more units onstream will boost profit from the venture, Mr. Hawthorne said. (British Energy owns 80% of the consortium, while Saskatoon-based Cameco, the uranium miner, has a 15% stake.) According to Mr. Hawthorne, British Energy 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 obtained control of the nuclear facility in May, 2001, through a lease deal with OPG. Under the terms of the deal, Bruce Power made an upfront payment of $625-million and, for the next 18 years, will make annual payments to OPG – some of which fixed, some of which vary with electricity prices and productions. The annual payment for 2002 is expected to be $150-million.

Moreover, Bruce Power will spend $800-million to replace turbines and complete upgrades on the four reactors at the Bruce B generating station.