11 September 2006 -- Reuters reported that Ontario nuclear operators are generating more electricity by keeping their power reactors operating longer between maintenance outages.
OPG, the province-owned generating company, has extended the length between major maintenance outages at the 3,524-MW Darlington nuclear power station from 24 months to 36 months. Unit 1 at Darlington, for example, has operated continuously since the spring of 2004 except for a couple of short outages. It is expected to continue to operate until the spring 2007. OPG is also looking to extend the time between outages at the 3,090 MW Pickering station on the shores of Lake Erie in Pickering, about 30 miles east of Toronto, near the Darlington station.
Bruce Power, which operates the giant Bruce nuclear station, is also seeking to extend the time between outages at its power plant in Tiverton on the shores of Lake Huron, about 155 miles northwest of Toronto, from 24 months to 30 months. Unit 6 at Bruce has operated almost continuously since the fall of 2004.
Reuters said the primary difference between the boiling water and pressurized water reactors in the United States and the Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors in Ontario is that operators can refuel the CANDU reactors without shutting them. In the United States, operators stack enriched uranium fuel rods vertically into a large sealed pressure vessel. Each rod is about 12 feet long and about the diameter of a pencil. Once the vessel is sealed, the operator cannot open it without shutting the reactor. As the uranium is used the operator must shut the reactor every 18 to 24 months to replace about a third of the fuel.
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