VAUGHAN, ONT. — Bruce Power’s Unit 3 reactor refurbishment is complete, seven months ahead of schedule and under budget, the province touts, calling it “the most successful completion and return to service of a nuclear unit in Ontario history.”
Originally scheduled for completion in January 2027, Bruce Unit 3 is the second of six units undergoing refurbishment between 2020 and 2033 as part of Bruce Power’s Life‑Extension Program, explains a release.
It was removed from service in March 2023.
The refurbished reactor will provide more than 800 megawatts (MW) of power for over 35 years, enough to power more than 800,000 homes.
The project replaced key components such as fuel channels, feeder tubes and steam generators.
“This refurbishment also marked a significant step in nuclear innovation with the first robotic tools used ever on a reactor face to refurbish a CANDU reactor, as well as setting a record for calandria tube removal completing it 11 days ahead of schedule,” the release reads.
The Bruce Power Life-Extension Program is privately funded and will refurbish Units 3-8, extending the life of the site through 2064. The Unit 4 MCR outage began in February of 2025 and the Unit 5 MCR is scheduled to begin in November 2026.
The refurbished nuclear reactor units will target upwards of 7,000 MW of net peak output in the early-2030s.
The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is one of the largest operating nuclear sites in the world.
