OPG prepares for two major Darlington Refurbishment milestones
More than three years ago, OPG and its project partners began refurbishing “Unit 2,” the first of four reactors to be overhauled at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.
This year, the Darlington Refurbishment project team is preparing for two major milestones: Unit 2 restart and Unit 3 breaker open.
Work on Unit 2 is now 95 per cent complete, and the reactor is on track to once again start producing carbon-free, reliable power for Ontario in the late second quarter of 2020.
“Following a successful containment pressure test, Unit 2 has been reconnected to Darlington’s operating units,” said Dietmar Reiner, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Projects. “We’re now removing equipment and tooling in preparation for a two-month-long critical safety systems testing process that leads into restarting the reactor,”
While the project team progresses through the final stages on Unit 2, OPG is also finalizing plans and preparations for Unit 3’s breaker open – the process of disconnecting the next unit scheduled for refurbishment from the provincial power grid. Work on Unit 3 is set to begin in the second quarter.
“We’re ready. We’ve taken note of more than 3,500 lessons learned from the first unit’s refurbishment and have been incorporating them into our plans for Unit 3."Jeff Richardson, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Projects
“We’re ready,” said Jeff Richardson, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Projects. “We’ve taken note of more than 3,500 lessons learned from the first unit’s refurbishment and have been incorporating them into our plans for Unit 3 and subsequent units – all towards ensuring the project remains on course.”
The overall Darlington Refurbishment project remains on budget and on schedule for completion in 2026.
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