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CNSC to hold public hearing on the licence renewal application for the Bruce Power nuclear generating stations

Aerial vew of the Bruce A Nuclear Generating Station

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) staff are preparing for the upcoming two-part public hearing to consider Bruce Power’s application to renew its power reactor operating licence. The first part of a public hearing will be held on March 14, 2018 in Ottawa. The second part will be held in Kincardine, Ontario, on May 30 and 31, where members of the public, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to be heard by the Commission.

Bruce nuclear generating stations

Bruce Power is licensed to operate the Bruce A and Bruce B nuclear generating stations (NGS), located in the Municipality of Kincardine on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, Ontario.

Licence renewal

The proposed licence term is 10 years and will include various major component replacement activities (also known as refurbishment). These activities are scheduled to begin in 2020 and are intended to increase the operational life of the facility.

The timeline displays activity dates for the Bruce Power licence renewal.  June 2017, Bruce Power submits licence renewal application.   July 2017 The application is reviewed by CNSC staff.  September 1, 2017 There is a notice of public hearing and Participant Funding Program.  September 12, 2017, October 5, 2017, November 2, 2017 Bruce Power hosts three open houses.  November 6, 2017 Deadline to apply for the Participant Funding Program.  January 31, 2018 (Kincardine, ON), February 1, 2018 (Port Elgin, ON) The CNSC hosts CNSC 101.   February 2018 CNSC staff Commission member document and presentation available for public view.  March 14, 2018 (Ottawa, ON) Licence renewal hearing, prt 1.   April 16, 2018 Deadline for public intervention.  May 30-31, 2018 (Kincardine, ON) Pickering licence renewal hearing, part 2.   To be confirmed, decision announcement.

Compliance verification

The CNSC regulates the nuclear industry in Canada to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians and the environment. One way that this is done is through compliance verification activities.

There are full-time CNSC staff at Bruce A and B who perform inspections to assess safety operations and verify compliance with regulatory requirements and licence conditions. Bruce Power is also subject to ongoing reviews of activities and licensee documentation. In addition, they must report any unusual occurrences and they are required to report on routine performance data.

Compliance activities enable the CNSC to assure Canadians that facilities like Bruce A and B continue to be compliant and perform safely. These activities also provide valuable information for the Commission when it is considering licence applications.

Public participation

The CNSC offered up to $100,000 under its Participant Funding Program (PFP) to help members of the public, Indigenous groups and stakeholders participate in the licence application review and the Commission’s public hearing process for the Bruce NGS licence renewal. After having an independent funding review committee consider the PFP requests, the CNSC approved PFP funding for eight recipients. This money will be used to help the recipients participate in the licence proceedings and provide distinctive and valuable information to the CNSC through informed and topic-specific interventions.

In addition to PFP recipients and their interventions, the Commission will carefully consider all the information presented from the public, Indigenous groups, the licensee and CNSC staff when making its decision. Members of the public who have an interest or expertise that may be useful to the Commission’s evaluation and decision making are invited to comment on Bruce Power’s application. Requests to intervene must be filed with the Commission Secretariat by April 16, 2018.

Find out more about the Bruce NGS.

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