Ontario Power Generation
About Pickering B
Highlights: License Period 2003-2008
Pickering B first came into service in the early to mid 1980’s. The station is comprised of four reactors each rated at approximately 540 MW. The Pickering B station is owned and operated by Ontario Power Generation and supplies about 10 per cent of the province’s electricity.
The operating licence for Pickering B was last renewed in 2003 for five years and expires on June 30, 2008. OPG has submitted an application and requests the Commission renew the operating licence for an additional five years.
What’s New at Pickering B:
Pickering B has made significant incremental effort over the past three years to improve the material condition of the plant and to promote desired staff behaviours. As a result, Pickering B is now performing better than at the beginning of the current licensing period. We have a continual focus on safety.
Safety
We are proud of our safety performance.
Industrial Safety:
Pickering B is in the top quartile for industry performance. In early 2008, the station achieved more than 4-million worked hours without a lost-time accident. That represents approximately 17 months of operation.
Radiation Safety:
- Pickering B reduced collective radiation exposures by 25 per cent in 2006 and a further 25 per cent in 2007;
- We have reduced plant areas requiring special contamination control measures by 45 per cent;
- Levels of low level radioactive waste produced was reduced to a 20-year low in 2007.
Environmental Stewardship:
- Pickering B has maintained the ISO 14001 certification for our environmental protection program throughout the period of the current operating licence;
- Pickering Nuclear was awarded the “Corporate Habitat of the Year” award in 2007 by the International Wildlife Habitat Council. This award was given to us in recognition of our positive contributions and lasting impact on our site’s wildlife habitat.
- OPG has been recognized by our community for our contribution to a sustainable environment including recognition as an Eco Business Leader by Durham Sustainability.
Nuclear Safety:
- Our performance in the area of nuclear safety continues to improve. Our special safety systems meet their availability and reliability targets;
- The number of reactor trips and transients on the units has improved over the past several years. For example, in 2007 there was only one reactor trip that occurred with the four units at power. This is better than the industry benchmark value of one trip per unit per year;
- Standby Generator reliability has been improved.
Station Upgrades:
Our performance in the area of nuclear safety has improved, in part, because we have invested heavily in plant upgrades to Pickering B over the period of the current operating licence. Some of the major projects we undertook over the last five years included:
- Implemented and maintained our Environmental Qualification program
- Completed upgrades to our Fire Protection
- Improved our Plant Condition Index, which is a measure of equipment reliability
- Completed Fuel Channel Spacer Location and Repositioning on all four Pickering B units.
Focus on Plant Condition:
As well, over the past three years, Pickering B has reduced the corrective maintenance backlog to the industry standard of less than 25 per unit and has put an aggressive work program into place for elective (proactive) maintenance activities.
Human Performance:
Human Performance is key to nuclear safety. Coaching at all levels has become a way of life at Pickering B. In the last few years, we have provided our First Line Managers with enhanced training, coaching and mentoring to improve their skills as coaches.
Housekeeping:
Housekeeping is a focus area within the nuclear industry and certainly at Pickering B. While Pickering B still has room to improve in this area, housekeeping at Pickering B has improved steadily over the term of the current licence.
Safety Culture:
Recognizing the key to success in reaching safety goals is to ensure a strong safety culture within our organization, Pickering B has recruited experts from across the industry. As well, we undertook a safety culture assessment in 2005 with a follow-up assessment currently in progress. The 2005 assessment concluded that there was a strong nuclear safety culture at Pickering B.
Benchmarking:
Employees at all levels are frequently sent to other nuclear utilities to benchmark our performance and to bring back the best practices in the industry.
Succession Planning:
The adequacy of current resources is an area highlighted by OPG for continual development. OPG is acutely aware of the demographics of our workforce. Our executives and senior managers recognized the aging demographic a number of years ago and have taken concerted action to address it. Our business planning process has established resource plans and we continue to address this in the following manner:
- Our external recruiting has been aggressive and very successful. OPG is now one of the Top 100 Employers in Canada. Repositioning the company as a preferred employer was major initiative championed by our president;
- We have partnered with educational institutions to establish co-op programs and with our unions to encourage applications to our apprenticeship programs. We are working closely with selected vendors and contractors to establish additional capability for projects and overflow work;
- The CNSC staff cautions that contractors must be managed carefully and we agree. We investigate the occasions on which our contractors do not meet our expectations and take corrective action;
- Succession plans have been developed for all supervisory and management levels to identify high potential candidates for future development for key leadership roles;
- Supervisory development programs are in place for all levels of managers;
- Mentorship and paired observation and coaching programs have been implemented.
Issues in the Current Licencing Period:
In 2003, a loss of the electrical grid occurred in Ontario which highlighted the need for some improvements to systems and components at Pickering B. As a result, Pickering B has significantly improved its preparedness in the event that another loss of the electrical system were to occur including:
- Completion of upgrades to our service water systems: The causes of the failure of units to survive the loss of grid have been remedied. Issues related to emergency response and information systems that arose during the event have been addressed;
- An Auxiliary Power System was installed consisting of two 45 MW combustion turbines with an investment of approximately $100 M. It has been commissioned and is ready for use;
- A self-assessment was completed that reviewed all corrective actions initiated as a follow-up to the 2003 event.
Conclusion
Through improvements over the last five years and plans for the future, OPG has demonstrated that:
- It is qualified to operate Pickering B, and
- It will make adequate provision for the protection of the environment, the health and safety of persons, and the maintenance of national security and measures required to implement international obligations to which Canada has agreed.
