A Message from Duncan Hawthorne

On March 11, 2011, the east coast of Japan was struck by the third largest earthquake in recorded history.

As the world would soon discover, the Magnitude 9 quake created a massive tsunami that swept ashore and left an almost unimaginable level of destruction in its wake, including the deaths of more than 14,000 people. On behalf of everyone here at Bruce Power, my heart goes out to the people of Japan and their families, both there and in Canada.

Of course, the dual natural disasters that befell Japan will impact its economy for decades to come. They will also leave an indelible imprint on the global nuclear industry.

For those of us who are part of the global nuclear family, a key feature of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami has been the impact on 11 nuclear units that had been operating at the time in the most seismically-active region of Japan.

Although all of the plants in the effected area were seismically qualified — and as such shut down as designed on detection of a seismic event — the resulting tsunami had a significant effect on a number of units.

This was particularly true at the Fukushima Daiichi generating station. At the time the quake struck, Units 1, 2 and 3 were operating at full power and Units 4, 5 and 6 were in various stages of refueling outages. When the tsunami came ashore and hit these units (in particular Units 1-4), the shutdown cooling systems were rendered entirely inoperative. So began a desperate series of attempts to prevent a multiple plant meltdown that had the potential to eclipse the damage inflicted by the Chornobyl event.

Not surprisingly, the unfolding events in Japan have led many countries and communities to wonder about the safety and integrity of other nuclear installations, particularly if they are considered to be in areas of perceived higher environmental risk.

Increased Scrutiny

While Bruce Power operates in an area of very low seismic activity on an inland lake that would not generate a tsunami, we are not immune to scrutiny generated by the Japanese events.

We operate the largest nuclear facility in the western hemisphere and with the impending return to service of Bruce A Units 1 and 2, our site will become the largest operating nuclear facility in the world.

In many ways, we are seen as a very substantial player in the nuclear world. Our reputation and activities are closely monitored across the nuclear community. There are several reasons for this, since we have been at the vanguard of the changing fortunes of the nuclear industry over the last decade.

Throughout the 10 years of Bruce Power’s existence, we have had the most active nuclear site in North America and have seen several important transitions such as:

• The movement of the facility from a government operating model into a private sector one. We remain the only nuclear plant in Canada to be privately operated.
• The immediate focus on the restart of Bruce A Units 3 and 4, which were successfully completed in late-2003 and early-2004. This was a task many thought impossible without major component replacements.
• Our current refurbishment and restart of Bruce A Units 1 and 2, which is North America’s largest infrastructure project and the first time a full CANDU refurbishment has been attempted. When we celebrated our 10th anniversary on May 11, 2011, we reflected with pride on the amazing transformation that has taken place over this last decade.

In the process of revitalizing the plant, we have also seen a transformation in our workforce. Nearly 2,000 new employees have joined us since Bruce Power was formed. At the peak of our Restart project, the number of employees on our site exceeded 7,000.

Against this very positive story at the Bruce Power site, the nuclear industry internationally has seen a decade of increased popularity. Estimates for new nuclear plants have been in the range of 300-500 more plants to come online over the next 15 years, which would almost double the number of nuclear units in service today.

The reasons for growth in nuclear power are based strongly on four fundamental principles:

1. The need for emissions-free energy as we battle global warming concerns.
2. A drive for energy security and a decreased dependence on oil resources.
3. A growing need for affordable, dependable and environmentally-sound electricity in developing countries.
4. A track record of improved operational performance from the existing fleet of nuclear power plants across the world.

It is true that nuclear power can claim success and strength in all of these areas. This does not, however, mean that the technology does not have “baggage.” Opponents of the technology will cite Three Mile Island and Chornobyl as evidence that our technology has safety issues. They will note that we have spent fuel byproducts that require a long-term solution that, as yet, the industry cannot demonstrate.

I have been in this industry for close to 40 years and have seen the rise and fall and rebirth of nuclear power. During this time, I have come to recognize there will never be unanimous support for what we do. Actually, this is the case for all power sources. However, I also firmly believe that a strong and reliable electricity supply is the backbone of every economy and that nuclear power is an essential component of the energy mix in Ontario.

Fukushima in Context

What, then, should we make of the events in Japan?

Firstly, let’s acknowledge the very obvious differences between this event and those of Three Mile Island and Chornobyl. In the previous two cases, the faults themselves originated inside the plants and escalated within the plants as a result of equipment problems or human decision making.

At Fukushima, this is not the case. In Japan, a set of nuclear plants were operating normally and subjected to a massive natural disaster that far exceeded their design basis and clearly the plant could not withstand the event. I am sure there will be questions asked about the appropriateness of the assumptions that governed this plant’s design. However, that is a matter for the Japanese authorities.

On a personal note, I want to recognize the dedication and commitment of the operational staff at Fukushima. In the face of a natural disaster that cost many of them their homes, family members, co-workers and friends, they remained at the work site to do all they could to stabilize their units.

Safety Review Underway

Here at Bruce Power, we are undertaking a review of our design safety case and will be paying particular attention to our ability to withstand natural disasters such as fire, flood, seismic events, explosion and blackout conditions.

This is not new for us. As you will recall, we had to withstand the blackout of 2003, when our plants were disconnected from the grid and had to support themselves without any offsite power. In that case, our plants not only passed this test, but were available to quickly restore power to Ontario after the event itself.

We are also an industry leader in the development of Severe Accident Management guidelines, which are a set of procedures designed to test the plant’s ability to cope with events that would be considered to be beyond the plants design basis.

Against this backdrop, we are well positioned to demonstrate that our plant can be relied upon to operate safely in the unlikely event that we are challenged by an unprecedented natural disaster.

The events at Fukushima will change the face of nuclear power operations in the same way that the events of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. changed the way we conduct our security operations here at the site. The full scope of changes that our industry might see cannot be stated at this time, but I am certain that changes will come and we, at Bruce Power, will ensure that we can quickly respond to new requirements.

In the meantime, it is important to me that our local community is well informed about the Fukushima event and secure in the knowledge that our operational plants continue to run in a safe manner.

I understand our technology is complex and that to many, the concept of splitting atoms to generate electricity is a technical marvel. That said, it is my job, and that of all Bruce Power employees, to assure you that we can be trusted to operate our plants with safety as our number one value.

This is the case and will always be so.

Regards,

Duncan Hawthorne