Bruce Nuclear Generating Station

Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, in the communities of Inverhuron and Tiverton, Ontario. It occupies 932 ha (2300 acres) of land. The facility derives its name from Bruce County in which it is located, in the former Bruce Township. It is the largest nuclear generating station in the world by net electrical power rating, total reactor count, and number of operational reactors.

Formerly known as the Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD), the facility was constructed in stages between 1970 and 1987 by the provincial Crown corporation, Ontario Hydro. In April 1999 Ontario Hydro was split into 5 component Crown corporations with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) taking over all electrical generating stations. In June 2000, OPG entered into a long term lease agreement with private sector consortium Bruce Power to take over operation of the Bruce station. In May 2001, Bruce Power began operations. The lease is for 18 years (until 2019) with an option to extend a further 25 years (to 2044).

The Bruce station is the largest nuclear facility in the world (the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa in Japan is larger but is only operating at 48% of capacity due to earthquake damage and decommissioning), comprising 8 CANDU nuclear reactors having a total output of 6,272 MW and 7,276 MW (net) when all units are online. The Bruce station has two 500 kV transmission lines going out of it to feed the major load centres in southern Ontario, in addition to three 230 kV lines serving the local area.

The station is the largest employer in Bruce County, with 3800 workers.

In November 2009, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission renewed Bruce Power’s operating licences for 5 years (until 2014), as well as giving permission to refuel units 1 and 2.