ONTARIO

Bruce 3 refurbishment stage completed in record time

06 August 2024

The reactor removal series at Bruce unit 3 has been completed ahead of schedule thanks to experience gained from previous projects - with the removal of the calandria tubes setting a new record for Candu refurbishment.

(Image: Bruce Power)

Bruce 3 is the second unit to undergo Major Component Replacement (MCR). The process involves removing and replacing key reactor components including steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes and adding 30-35 years to the reactor's operating life. In total, six units at the Bruce site in Ontario are to be refurbished: the first to undergo the process, Bruce 6, returned to commercial operation last September.

Unit 3 was taken offline to begin its MCR outage in March 2023. The removal of feeder tubes, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and other internal components has taken nine months, with the work carried out by the MCR project team, alongside vendor partners Shoreline Power Group (a joint venture between Aecon, AtkinsRéalis and United Engineers & Constructors) and ATS Industrial Automation. The removal of the 480 calandria tubes - seam-welded tubes which penetrate the cylindrical reactor vessel and accommodate the pressure tubes that contain fuel and coolant - was completed 11 days ahead of schedule on 26 July.

Leveraging the experience of tradespeople, and innovation through lessons learned and technological advancement, meant that the removal series was completed in less time than the same work had taken in unit 6's MCR.

"Each successive MCR outage brings an opportunity for performance improvement, and we're committed to returning these units to service safely and successfully to meet Ontario's clean energy needs well into the future," said Laurent Seigle, Bruce Power's executive vice-president, Projects. "To execute a project of this scale and complexity, it takes an ecosystem of nuclear professionals to work together toward a common goal," he added.

Shoreline's millwrights, boilermakers and electricians will now transition to commissioning, operating and maintaining a first-of-a-kind, six-axis robotic tooling system for reactor inspection and installation work including the replacement of 960 feeder tubes and 480 fuel channels as well as the calandria tubes. Automated tooling systems, the majority of which have been designed, tested and manufactured by ATS Industrial Automation, will be used in the cleaning and inspection of thousands of components on both faces of the reactor.

The next Bruce unit to undergo MCR will be unit 4, beginning in 2025. Units 5, 7 and 8 will also be refurbished over the next 10 years. The work will directly and indirectly create and sustain about 1500 jobs over the next 15 years in Grey, Bruce and Huron counties, and throughout Ontario, the companies said.

NexGen updates economics for Rook I

02 August 2024

The change in costs for the company's 100%-owned project in Saskatchewan reflects both inflationary changes over recent years and the advancement of engineering and procurement, optimised constructability, and enhanced environmental performance.

Rook I, in the southwestern area of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan (Image: NexGen)

The updated estimated pre-production capital costs - or CapEx - are CAD2.2 billion (USD1.58 billion). The estimated average cash operating cost (OpEx) over the life of mine (LOM) of CAD13.86 per pound U3O8 (USD9.98 per pound) is described by the company as "industry leading".

Previously - in a feasibility study published in 2021 - the project's CapEx had been estimated at CAD1.3 billion, with average OpEx over the LOM at CAD7.58 per pound U3O8. The updated CapEx reflects some CAD310 million in direct and attributable inflationary increases since 2020, and around CAD590 million in increased CapEx from enhancements identified through advanced engineering and procurement activity since March 2021, the company said. The updated OpEx estimate reflects an increase of CAD2.65 per pound U3O8 due to inflationary adjustments and CAD3.63 per pound due to advanced design developments, advancement of procurement, and operational and ongoing elite environmental enhancements.

The design of the mine incorporates an underground tailings management facility, and most of the mine's reclamation will take place concurrently with production. As well as enhancing environmental performance during operation, this will reduce the risk of ongoing reclamation, costly decommissioning at the end of the production period, and the post-closure risk to the local environment and communities. Some CAD900 million of costs associated with the progressive reclamation over the LOM have already been incorporated into the CapEx, OpEx and sustaining capital costs, meaning that full closure costs at the end of the mine's life - expected to be around CAD70 million - will be "materially lower than other uranium mines in Canada".

NexGen is currently working to secure the federal and provincial approvals needed to move forward with the project, and says it is ready for major construction activities to begin immediately when the final federal environmental assessment approval is received: it has already received provincial environmental assessment approval. The project is now about 45% complete, and the company said it is "advancing well with the significant build out of the project development team that includes industry experts in shaft sinking, underground mining and development, and surface operations."

CEO Leigh Curyer said the updated capital cost is an "all-encompassing spend" to bring the project into production, with a payback period of 12 months. "It is a very exciting time at NexGen as the Company advances the finalisation of the Federal Environmental Assessment, readies for immediate commencement of construction on final Federal Approval, and in parallel continue to test the recently discovered Patterson Corridor East mineralisation 3.5kms east of the Arrow deposit," he said.

The Arrow uranium deposit at Rook I has measured and indicated mineral resources of 256.7 million pounds U3O8, supporting an 11-year LOM.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News