Bruce A and B Nuclear Generating Stations

Bruce Power is licensed to operate the Bruce A and Bruce B Nuclear Generating Stations, located in the municipality of Kincardine on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, Ontario. Bruce Power also operates a nuclear waste management facility onsite. The CNSC has full-time staff at the stations who perform inspections to evaluate operations and to verify compliance with regulatory requirements and licence conditions.

• Plant Information
• Latest CNSC Facility-Specific Announcements
• Latest Licensee Public Disclosures
• Regulatory Reporting
• Other Key Topics
• Adjacent Nuclear Facilities and Project

Location: Kincardine, Ontario
Operator: Bruce Power
Reactor Type: CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium)
Vendor: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Number of units: 8 reactors
Installed capacity: 6,232 MW (Bruce A & B combined)
Status: All units operating
Licenses issued: June 1, 2015
Licenses expire: May 31, 2020
Start of commercial operation: Between 1977-1979 for Bruce A and 1984-1987 for Bruce B
Refurbished units: Bruce A units 1 and 2
Special containment feature: Common vacuum building maintained at negative atmospheric pressure
Licensing Documentation: Request a copy of the Bruce A and Bruce B licences and licence condition handbooks by email

Latest CNSC facility-specific announcements

• May 28, 2015: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission renews Bruce Power’s power reactor operating licences
  • Read CNSC’s news release
  • Read the Record of Proceedings (PDF)
• March 23, 2015: Revised Notice of Public Hearing for Bruce Power Inc. (PDF)
• January 23, 2015: Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: Bruce A and Bruce B Nuclear Generating Stations
• September 17, 2014: CNSC approves Bruce's request to operate beyond 210,000 EFPH
• May 2, 2014: CNSC Extends Bruce Power’s Operating Licence Until May 2015
• May 28, 2013: Final Green Light for Bruce Unit 1
• October 25, 2012: Bruce A Unit 2 Gets Final CNSC Approval

Latest Licensee Public Disclosures

As part of CNSC's regulatory requirements, major licensees must have robust public information and disclosure programs in place. These programs, for nuclear power plants, include a disclosure protocol developed in consultation with community stakeholders. You may visit Bruce Power's Web site for all updates triggered by the protocol's disclosure criteria.

Regulatory Reporting and Documents

• Disclosure protocol (source: Bruce Power)
• Event reports-S99 (source: Bruce Power)
• Environmental reports (source: Bruce Power)
• Regulatory Oversight Report for Canadian Nuclear Power Plants
• Regulatory Actions
• Most Recent CNSC Power Reactor Status Report (This report is prepared to update Commission members during most public meetings.)

Other Key Topics

• Ontario gives go-ahead for refurbishment of Bruce Power's nuclear units (Source: Government of Ontario)
• Bruce Power's update on refurbishment plans (Source: Bruce Power)
• Refurbishment and life extension
  • Nuclear power plant refurbishment video
  • Refurbish your own (virtual) nuclear power plant
• Radiation and Incidence of Cancer around Ontario Nuclear Power Plants from 1990 to 2008 study (the RADICON study)
• Canada's Action Plan in Response to the Nuclear Accident in Japan
• Nuclear Power Plant Safety Systems
• Understanding Nuclear Power Plants: Total Station Blackout

Adjacent Nuclear Facilities and Project

Ontario Power Generation Deep Geologic Repository

The site preparation, construction and operation of a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) is proposed for the disposal of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes on the Bruce Site in Tiverton. The DGR will also hold waste produced from the continued operation of the Bruce, Pickering and Darlington nuclear generating stations.

Find out more about the status of this project.

Western Waste Management Facility

The Western Waste Management Facility is owned and operated by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and stores low level radioactive wastes from the Bruce A and B reactors as well as from the Pickering and Darlington nuclear generating stations. The Western Waste Management Facility also houses used fuel from Bruce A and B along with refurbishment waste from Bruce A.

Douglas Point Waste Management Facility

The Douglas Point Waste Management Facility (DPWMF) is located at the site of the former Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station (DPNGS) situated on the Bruce nuclear site. Decommissioning of this prototype reactor began in 1986, and the transfer of spent fuel from wet storage in the reactor pool to a dedicated dry storage facility was completed by 1987. The DPWMF is presently in the storage-with-surveillance phase of a deferred decommissioning program and is closed to the receipt of new wastes.

Bruce Heavy Water Plant

The Bruce Heavy Water Plant (BHWP) was a Class 1B nuclear facility contained within the boundaries of the Bruce nuclear site located in Tiverton, Ontario. It began producing heavy water in 1973 and continued until the last production facilities were shut down in 1998. The demolition of the BHWP was completed in 2006. All contaminated soil has been remediated, and the project is in the end-state of environmental monitoring.