Bruce Power is ready to launch an Impact Assessment (IA) for potential new nuclear generation on the Bruce Power site.
The company notified the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) of its intent Friday. Community information sessions are planned in the coming weeks with local Indigenous communities and the public on a potential Bruce Power expansion.
"The impact assessment will include early community, Indigenous and public engagement. The company is advancing this process in a proactive, open and transparent manner in order to engage Indigenous peoples, our communities and the public early in the process as a planning tool to meet Ontario’s long-term energy needs,” said James Scongack, Bruce Power’s Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice-President of Operational Services.
The project is not yet approved, but Bruce Power wants to launch early dialogue and engagement to ensure all voices are heard. Bruce Power will use that feedback as it prepares an Initial Project Description to submit by early 2024.
“Bruce Power is fortunate for the continued strong support from our surrounding communities over our many years of operation,” added Scongack. “This is something we do not take for granted and we will continue to build upon the strong relationships with local Indigenous communities and the broader community through a commitment to openness and transparency. We are committed to keeping our communities up to date and engaged throughout the Impact Assessment process and will provide multiple opportunities to be involved.”
“Canada is at an important juncture,” Scongack continued. “We will only be able to reverse the effects of climate change, advance a net zero future and grow our economy through investment in long-term clean electricity infrastructure. We will achieve this by engaging people and conducting pre-development activities now so we can increase the certainty around supply options, learning from past challenges with large infrastructure projects for a better future.”
Ontario's long-term electricity framework pointed to the expansion of the Bruce Power site as a key way to help meet electricity demand, grow the economy and achieve a net zero future. It called for pre-development work to create up to 4,800 megawatts (MW) of additional nuclear capacity at the proposed Bruce C. This additional capacity would complement the existing Bruce A and B generation facilities which are home to eight reactors.
According to Bruce Power, the nuclear generating site was home to one of the largest greenhouse gas reduction initiatives in the world when the company returned the Bruce A units to service and improved their performance to leading operational standards from when the site was assumed by Bruce Power in 2001. That provided to 70 per cent of the energy needed to phase-out the use of coal in Ontario.
Bruce Power will hold community information sessions in local Indigenous communities over the next two weeks to share information about Bruce Power’s current operations and the proposed nuclear expansion. There will also be public information sessions at the Bruce Power Visitors’ Centre. Sessions will be held Nov. 19 and Dec. 10 from 1-4 p.m. The sessions will help people learn about the company’s operations, Major Component Replacement projects, production of cancer-fighting medical isotopes and the Bruce C project to explore opportunities for the future of the Bruce Power site. Bruce Power plans to attend municipal meetings in the host communities and in each of the three counties in the coming weeks.