Darlington Refurbishment a true team effort

The $12.8 billion refurbishment of OPG’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station is the largest clean energy project in Canada. But OPG isn’t going it alone. It is getting ample help from partners and suppliers across Ontario to extend the life of the four units at Darlington by another 30 years.

More than 60 companies, big and small, from 54 Ontario communities are directly engaged in the job of refurbishing Darlington, with about 96 per cent of the suppliers based in this province.

To help visualize the reach of a project this big, an interactive map displaying the locations of the dozens of partners involved in the Darlington Refurbishment can be viewed at refurbpartners.com.

Two important partners involved in the mega­project are SNC­Lavalin and Aecon, who have joined forces in a joint­venture. Aecon is providing construction and fabrication services at Darlington, while SNC­Lavalin is focusing on specialty tooling and engineering. Together, the two companies will carry out the execution phase of replacing the main reactor components.

“Over 400 joint venture employees are involved in this exciting clean energy project,” said Kim Cumpson, a spokesperson for Aecon Group Inc.

The work done by the joint venture thus far has been impressive, with more than 20,000 cubic metres of concrete poured, 4,000 tons of steel installed, and more than two million person­hours spent on planning alone. That’s a lot of materials and brain power dedicated to one job.

In Oakville, Ont., manufacturer Promation is working closely with OPG and SNCLavalin/Aecon to create specialized tools and equipment for the project.

Promation’s state­-of-­the-­art tooling includes equipment used to insert the many pressure tubes that will go into the reactor tank, also known as the calandria. The company is also designing tools used to replace the fuel bundles in the reactor.

Meanwhile, in Cambridge, Ont., BWXT Canada continues to support the Darlington station as it has done since the plant went online in 1990. The company supplies steam generators and other major components for CANDU reactors.

These are just a few of the partners that are helping to ensure Darlington continues to produce clean and reliable energy for many more years to come. And the list will only get larger as the project progresses.

The Darlington Refurbishment is currently underway with the refurbishment of the Unit 2 reactor. The project is expected to generate $14.9 billion in economic benefits to Ontario by the time work on all four units is completed in 2026.