Darlington Nuclear’s Unit 1 Successfully Refurbished Months Ahead of Schedule
November 27, 2024
OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment project is now in the home stretch.
Unit 1, the third of four units to be refurbished at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, successfully completed its overhaul five months ahead of schedule and will soon be returned to the grid.
The 875-megawatt (MW) unit was taken offline for refurbishment in February 2022. Prior to this, Unit 1 ran for more than 1,000 days straight, setting a world record for continuous operation of a nuclear power reactor.
It now joins Darlington’s Units 2 and 3, which were successfully refurbished in 2020 and 2023, respectively, as OPG’s latest nuclear success story.
Unit 4, the final unit undergoing refurbishment, is currently in the reactor rebuilding phase and progressing on schedule to be completed by the end of 2026 to wrap up the ambitious 10-year, $12.8-billion mega-project.
With the refurbishment of another unit, OPG, our employees, and our project partners continue to demonstrate that we can execute major nuclear projects not only on time, but ahead of time, and with a clear commitment to quality.
Ken Hartwick
President and CEO, OPG
Together, these refurbished units will provide 30-plus years of low-carbon, reliable, and affordable power to support Ontario’s growing and electrifying future.
“With the refurbishment of another unit, OPG, our employees, and our project partners continue to demonstrate that we can execute major nuclear projects not only on time, but ahead of time, and with a clear commitment to quality,” said Ken Hartwick, OPG’s President and CEO. “This latest milestone reflects our decade of preparation and planning, as well as our dedication to quality and innovation, and the hard work of our entire project team, vendors, skilled trades, and energy professionals.”
According to an independent report, the Darlington Refurbishment project is expected to generate a total of $89.9 billion in economic benefits for the province and create 14,200 jobs per year. Darlington Nuclear provides about 20% of Ontario’s electricity, enough to power more than 2 million homes.
Since the project began in 2016, OPG has applied thousands of lessons learned on each subsequent unit to achieve major efficiencies and schedule savings. This includes an industry-first combined pressure tube and calandria tube removal process.
In addition to producing much-needed electricity for Ontarians, Unit 1 will be the first Darlington reactor to produce the Cobalt-60 isotope, which is used to sterilize about 30% of the world’s single-use medical devices, such as syringes, implants, and surgical instruments. About 50% of the world’s Cobalt-60 supply is produced in Ontario’s nuclear reactors, including Pickering Nuclear, which has been producing the important nuclear product since 1971.
Since returning to service, Darlington’s overhauled units have established excellent track records, maintaining the station’s reputation as one of the top performing nuclear plants in the world.
After coming back online in 2020, Unit 2 experienced a record 529-day continuous run. Meanwhile, Unit 3 returned to service 169 days ahead of schedule to deliver an extra three terawatt-hours of energy for the province.
An estimated 6,000 people from OPG and its vendor partners worked on Unit 1’s refurbishment, including skilled trades, project management, and support services.
OPG is now leveraging its experience on the Darlington Refurbishment to advance North America’s first fleet of commercial small modular reactors at Darlington Nuclear and continuing to plan for the refurbishment of Pickering Nuclear’s Units 5 to 8.
“As we continue refurbishment of Unit 4, we are committed to keeping up our momentum,” said Hartwick. “With the finish line in sight, we are confident we will be able to deliver this project safely and with quality to support Ontario’s electrifying future.”
At a glance
- OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment project marks the third of four nuclear units to be successfully refurbished.
- Darlington’s Unit 1 wrapped up refurbishment activities five months ahead of schedule.
- The overall project is on track to be completed by 2026 and will provide 30 more years of low-carbon, reliable, and affordable power for Ontario.
