The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) said the commissioning report on Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) new Multi-Purpose Storage Building at the Western Waste Management Facility confirms that the building meets design specifications and is fit for purpose.
OPG is the licensee of the Western Waste Management Facility, which handles low- and intermediate-level waste from the Darlington, Pickering, and Bruce Power nuclear stations, as well as storing all the used fuel from Bruce Power’s operations. The new MPSB is a steel-framed structure that will store 64 steam generators from Bruce Power’s Major Component Replacement project.
“The Commission accepts OPG’s Commissioning Report for the Multi-Purpose Storage Building (MPSB) at the WWMF,” the regulator said in a Commission Decision signed by CNSC President Pierre Tremblay on 9 October. “OPG is authorised to begin the operation of the MPSB.”
The review did not require a public hearing under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act as no licensing decision was involved, the CNSC said.
Bruce Power’s Major Component Replacement – or MCR – began in 2020 and will see the refurbishment of Bruce units 3-8, including the replacement of key reactor components including steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes. It will add about 30-35 years of operational life for each unit. The first unit to undergo the process, Bruce unit 6, returned to commercial service in September 2024 after the completion of its MCR ahead of time and on budget. Units 3 and 4 are currently undergoing their MCR outages, and will be followed by units 5, 7 and 8 in overlapping MCR outages until 2033.
OPG is currently refurbishing four Candu units at its Darlington site with completion expected in 2026, and is planning to begin the refurbishment of Pickering units 5-8.
