On September 21st, Pickering B Unit 5 started winding down. It was officially taken offline on September 22nd at around 3PM, 2026. Also on the 21st, the Ontario government issued a news release, announcing the commencement of construction. Over the next while, units 6, 7 and 8 will slowly be shutdown and defueled. Construction on the deep water inlet will begin, and the most extensive refurbishment in Canadian nuclear history will be fully underway.
It is a huge project.
- 48 boilers will be replaced, which requires cutting of containment
- All new control systems will be installed
- New turbines will be fitted
- Generators with be refreshed and stators rewound
- A kilometer-long tunnel will be bored under the lake for the new deep water inlet
- 1,520 calandria tubes and pressure tubes will be replaced
- 3,040 feeders and end fittings will be replaced
- Fueling machines will be rehabilitated
- The vacuum building will be fully disconnected from the retired Pickering A units
The first unit should return to service in around 2030-31. The refurbishment will be staggered, so lessons learned on the lead unit will be applied to the others, which will have a tighter cadence.
Updates will be posted as milestones are reached.