Canada’s Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is preparing for two major milestones at the Darlington NPP refurbishment project – the restart of Darlington 2 and the beginning of refurbishment at Darlington 3.
Work on Darlington 2 is now 95% complete, and the reactor is on track to restart operation in the late second quarter of 2020.
“Following a successful containment pressure test, unit 2 has been reconnected to Darlington’s operating units,” said Dietmar Reiner, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Projects. “We’re now removing equipment and tooling in preparation for a two-month-long critical safety systems testing process that leads into restarting the reactor.”
While the project team progresses through the final stages on Darlington 2, OPG is also finalising plans and preparations to disconnect unit 3 from the provincial power grid in preparation for its refurbishment, which is set to begin in the early second quarter.
“We’re ready," said Jeff Richardson, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Projects. "We’ve taken note of more than 3500 lessons learned from the first unit’s refurbishment and have been incorporating them into our plans for unit 3 and subsequent units – all towards ensuring the project remains on course."
The overall Darlington Refurbishment project remains on budget and schedule for completion in 2026, OPG confirmed.
Photo: Turbine Hall at Darlington 3
