The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has given permission for the restart of Bruce A unit 1 and for restart activities to begin at the Point Lepreau Generating Station.
CNSC gave Bruce Power the go-ahead to power up its unit 1 reactor on 20 July. The reactor has been shut down for 15 years for refurbishment to bring it up to ‘present-day operating standards’, according to the regulator.
The authorization allows Bruce Power to restart the reactor and bring it up to 50% of full power in order to perform several safety tests under the oversight of the CNSC. Bruce Power will require CNSC approval to increase power further.
The next step will be to synchronize Unit 1 to the Ontario electricity grid, Bruce Power said in a statement.
On 23 July, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced its decision authorizing New Brunswick Power Nuclear (NBPN) to begin activities to restart the Point Lepreau Generating Station.
At this stage, the station would not produce electricity, but would restart the reactor in order to perform several safety tests under the oversight of CNSC staff. NBPN will require further CNSC regulatory approvals to increase power above 0.1% of full power and above 35% of full power.
The low-power restart was sucessfully completed on 25 July, NBPN annouced in a statement. It said that “in the coming months a series of tests and verifications will take place to ensure the proper functions of the reactor components and plant systems.” The station remains on track to restart in the autumn of 2012, NB Power said.
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