Brent Fisher, Senior Manager of Corporate Relations and Projects presented to Council an Ontario Power Generation Community Update.
Mr. Fisher provided information about Ontario Power Generation facilities and operations.
OPG's Climate Action Plan commits OPG to being a net zero company by 2040. Company Highlights included the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan, Pickering Nuclear Generating Station Units 5-8 refurbishment study, advancement of the Darlington New Nuclear Project, Darling Refurbishment project, and support of the Bruce Power MCR.
Nuclear Waste Management name has been changed to Nuclear Sustainability Services (NSS). This name change emphasizes the shift in management to include the three R's, reduce, re-use and recycle. Isotopes produced on the nuclear sites are included in this management, including the isotopes used in fusion research, medical diagnostics and other technologies.
The NSS - Western site is the Bruce Power Site. The 42,000 square foot facility located at the Bruce Energy Centre in Kincardine is scheduled to open in Spring 2023. It will be used to reduce low-level radioactive waste.
Mr. Fisher provided information on the environmental stewardship practices of OPG, and commitment to Community Engagement.
Council inquired about where information on the "live dashboard" energy production mix could be found on the internet. Council also discussed the use of incinerators for waste reduction and whether this might have applications for non-nuclear waste at landfills.
Brent informed Council that the OPG has been running the incinerator for about a 20 year span, including planned shutdowns for maintenance etc. Council inquired if the heat off of it could have other applications. Fisher indicated that it was only used to reduce the volume of waste, and that there are several processes within the incinerator, so that the final product you see from the stack is very clean.
Council inquired about the Darlington NEW nuclear project, which is to construct a small modular reactor and whether OPG is studying new conventional nuclear modules for that site, or only the small modular reactor.
In response to Council's inquiry, Fisher responded that the request from the Province of Ontario specifically requested OPG to study a refurbishment of the other reactors at the Pickering Site. Council asked Fisher's opinion on how the community feels about that and what feedback from the community had been received. Fisher reported that amongst employees it has been widely accepted, and there were no regulatory concerns reported.
Fisher confirmed that Bruce Power and OPG have different names for the on-site buildings and clarified for members of Council which buildings were discussed in the presentation. Council inquired about the waste that would be generated and would it go to the sorting facility. Fisher described the plan to tackle legacy waste first, and then limit the amount of new waste being generated through other measures.
Council inquired about the Phragmites reduction reasons. Fisher confirmed that Phragmites had been reduced by an environmentally approved process of cutting them down, and not as a result of hotter water in the area.