Darlington Unit 2 now reconnected to grid

TORONTO — Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has announced the completion of refurbishment of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 2 reactor and its reconnection to Ontario’s electricity grid at full power.

The four-unit project began with Unit 2 in 2016 and required the support of hundreds of companies and thousands of workers within OPG and from across the province, stated a June 4 release.

The project began with 765,000 training hours with workers training on a mock-up facility to learn how to safely shut down, defuel, disassemble and reconstruct the reactor.

Hundreds of Ontario manufacturers also contributed to the project.

The project was an Aecon/SNC-Lavalin joint venture.

“Congratulations to Ontario Power Generation and all your employees on the hard work that contributed to this important milestone that is the return to service of Darlington’s Unit 2,” said Sandy Taylor, president of nuclear with SNC-Lavalin, in a release.

“Thousands of individuals and hundreds of vendors came together to collaborate and brought their best, showcasing Ontario’s nuclear advantage. The best practices and application of new tools will be a legacy for other life extensions to come.”

Statistics from SNC-Lavalin noted that 2,300 individuals were employed over the three years, working over eight million hours; 480 fuel channels and calandria tubes were replaced; over 27 kilometres of pipe, including pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder pipe, were installed; and nearly 4,000 radiographic welds were completed.

“This is a truly historic moment for Ontario. I want to thank our refurbishment team, project partners, vendors and construction building trades workers for more than 24 million hours worked safely and for returning Darlington’s Unit 2 reactor to the grid at a time of unprecedented circumstances,” said Ken Hartwick, OPG’s president and CEO. “This world-class project performance demonstrates the team’s expertise and their commitment to completing the four-unit refurbishment safely, with quality and on budget by end of 2026 as planned.”