Fueling the road to restart for Darlington Unit 3

Progress on Unit 3 refurbishment achieved several key milestones, marking a significant step on the journey from a construction project to an operating unit.

Completion of Unit 3 lower feeder installation, followed by the review and approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, allowed the loading of 6,240 fuel bundles plus 960 new closure plugs and shield plugs into the completely rebuilt reactor.

Shipments of fuel bundles specifically earmarked for Unit 3 arrived at our station in early November. Pallets of fuel bundles were inspected, sequenced and packed by fuel supplier BWXT, located in Peterborough. The fuel for Unit 3 was a mix of long, standard, and depleted bundles, with each bundle strategically placed in the fuel channels to ensure all parts of the core are neutronically balanced and ready when the fission process is initiated.

“We’ve past the midway point of this project and our success to-date is a testament to the strength of this team – our OneTeam,” says Subo Sinnathamby, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Refurbishment. “With 84 per cent of the work on Unit 3 complete, we are well on our way to repower Unit 3 for another three decades of clean, low-cost and reliable energy.”