Another Ontario reactor shut down

Another Ontario reactor shut down, total of 7 out of commission

TORONTO - Nov 12 (The Associated Press)

(CP) _ Another reactor has been shut down at an Ontario nuclear generating station taking the total to seven out of commission and leading to increased electricity imports.

A reactor at the Bruce nuclear station was shut down late Wednesday, according to Bruce Power, which means that three of the station's six units were out of service Thursday.

The latest unit to be idled is one of two at the Bruce A that Bruce Power overhauled and returned to service in January.

Staff shut down the reactor after noticing a leak in the heat transport system, which carries heat from the reactor to the steam generators that drive the station's electrical generators.

It will take until some time "later in the month" to repair the unit, company spokesman Steve Cannon said.

Another unit at Bruce Power is on a scheduled maintenance outage, while a third is being slowly restarted after being forced to shut down earlier this week.

It can take 40 hours to get a reactor back in service. In addition to the Bruce reactors, three reactors are out of service at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington nuclear station, one of them for scheduled maintenance. Another is out of service at the Pickering station, also on scheduled maintenance.

That means seven of the province's 15 reactors were out of service Thursday.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator said the missing reactors contributed to high imports.

About 2,500 megawatts of power were flowing into the province because of the idle nuclear plants. That was more than 10 per cent of the province's peak demand. (Toronto Star)

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