Thursday 15 December 2022

Point Lepreau nuclear plant taken offline after power loss

 

Point Lepreau nuclear plant taken offline after power loss

No injuries, radiation contamination or spills reported, says federal safety commission

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was informed of the incident Wednesday around 5:30 a.m. and has staff onsite, closely monitoring the situation, according to a news release late Wednesday afternoon..

"At the time of this update, NB Power has not identified any reports of injuries, radiation contamination or spills into environment," said the commission, whose mandate includes protecting health, safety, security and the environment.

N.B. Power says further assessments are underway to perform the maintenance required to reconnect the station to the grid.

"This work poses no risk to employees, the public or the environment," it said in a news release.

N.B. Power spokesperson Dominique Couture did not immediately respond to a request for more information, such as when and why the power loss occurred, or how long it's expected to take to get the plant back online.

Point Lepreau, located about 35 minutes southwest of Saint John, is a 660-megawatt nuclear generating station and a major contributor to New Brunswick's electrical grid.

It's Atlantic Canada's only nuclear power generating station.

'Major equipment replacement' delayed until April

Point Lepreau was shut down for a week in August due to an undisclosed "equipment issue."

That outage came only five days after the generating station came back online following scheduled spring maintenance,  which dragged on for more than 100 days and wasn't completed as planned.

Supply and personnel shortages and more significant problems with station equipment than anticipated all contributed to the delay, Couture had said.

She said a 22-day outage is planned for April 2023 to deal with the unfinished work — a "major equipment replacement … to ensure predictable, reliable station operations going forward."

Shutdowns at Point Lepreau cost N.B. Power between $8 million and $10 million per week. (Mike Heenan/CBC News file photo)

According to N.B. Power's annual reports, unscheduled outages at the nuclear plant cost the utility between $28,500 and $45,700 per hour, depending on the time of year and market conditions, plus the cost of any required repairs.

But Couture said those are old costs related to the 4½-year, $2.4-billion refurbishment completed in late 2012. She could not provide an updated estimate. It will be reported as part of the financial statements in the annual report, she said.

According to filings with the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, Lepreau has experienced 8,000 more hours of downtime than projected since the refurbishment, not including the spring outage.

Lepreau's operating licence was renewed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in June for 10 years. N.B. Power had sought an unprecedented 25-year licence renewal.

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36 Comments
 
 
 
David Amos 
Surprise Surprise Surprise 
 
 
Rusty Shackleford 
Reply to David Amos
It's easy to criticize, what's your solution. You have another ,cleaner energy source in your back pocket that you'd like to share? 
 
 
Jack Bell
Reply to Rusty Shackleford
"It's easy to criticize, what's your solution" 
 
Says the person criticizing David Amos......  
 
Seems like David's post hit a nerve. Do you have a connection to Point Lepreau.... AKA the bottomless pit? 
 
 
Rusty Shackleford 
Reply to Jack Bell
Don't know Amos from a hole in the ground...care even less. And have no affiliation with NB Power at all. Just know that its very to be an armchair quarterback, but much more difficult to solve problems. Criticism is easy, lad. I extend the invitation to you as well...do you have a solution to our energy woes? Perhaps we should put coal back on the menu? 
 
 
Jack Bell
Reply to Rusty Shackleford
If they could get tidal up and running NB would be all set. 
 
 
David Amos
Reply to Rusty Shackleford
Easy Just shut down all the generation plants except the dams and buy the power we need from Quebec 
 
 
David Amos
Reply to Jack Bell
He knows me I have Intervened at the EUB several times and am involved in 2 current matters right now  
 
 
 
 
 
Fred Brewer 
According to filings with the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, Lepreau has experienced 8,000 more hours of downtime than projected since it underwent a 4½-year, $2.4-billion refurbishment in late 2012, not including the spring outage. 
 
8000 hours? That is more than one entire year of unpredicted downtime at a cost of one million dollars per day. NB Power is so far off target on everything including debt reduction which is non-existent and production predictions. It is way past time to sell off NB Power. 
 
 
Jack Bell 
Reply to Fred Brewer  
Maybe but they're going to do a "major equipment replacement … to ensure predictable, reliable station operations going forward." 
 
So, if we just throw a couple more billion at the white elephant everything will be perfect..,. until they need more money to invest in magic beans...oops I mean Joi scientific.
 
 
Jack Bell 
Reply to Fred Brewer  
"NB Power is so far off target on everything including debt reduction which is non-existent and production predictions" 
 
....but they are well ahead of the curve in having political flunkies placed in managerial positions. 
 
 
Fred Brewer 
Reply to Jack Bell
Exactly, they keep telling us things will get better but they don't. It is time we turf these clowns out on their behinds. 
 
 
David Amos  
Reply to Fred Brewer 
Why not Intervene at the EUB like I do?
 
 
 
 
Murray Brown   
NB Power generates enough electricity to supply 5,215,200 homes... 4,346 MW of power in total... That is over twice the power generation of the Hoover dam... And New Brunswick has 295,960 private dwellings, or homes... Now you know why Quebec wanted to buy NB Power. Missing out on the power generated from Point Lepreau for a few days won't hurt the bottom line. 
 
 
Jack Bell 
Reply to Murray Brown
"Missing out on the power generated from Point Lepreau for a few days won't hurt the bottom line." 
 
The articles says something completely different. "Shutdowns at Point Lepreau cost N.B. Power between $8 million and $10 million per week. " 
 
It sure seems to hurt taxpayer's bottom line. 
 
 
David Amos  
Reply to Murray Brown
I disagree  
 
 
 
 
 
Daisy Dean
Point Lepreau nuclear plant was one of Con Richard Hatfield’s babies along with the Bricklin. Bad investments. 
 
 
William Peters
Reply to Daisy Dean 
Pushed onto us by the federal government of the day. They arranged the financing; we took the bait.


Daisy Dean
Reply to William Peters
So true. Lepreau has been a money pit and thorn in the side of New Brunswickers for almost 50 years.
 
 
Rosco holt 
Reply to Daisy Dean  
It's Bernard lord that is responsible for the refurbishment which was experimental. 
 
 
Les Cooper 
Reply to Daisy Dean
About the same time as bilingualism lol  
 
 
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
Yup   
 
 
Louis Leger
 
 
Jack Bell 
Reply to Louis Leger
Could you post a link to that? I love reading fiction  
 
 
Louis Leger 
Reply to Jack Bell
No need, numbers don't lie
 
 
 
 
Fred Brewer  
The three things we have come to rely on from Pt. Lepreau:

1) Cost overruns

2) Construction/refit delays

3) Unreliable power  
 
 
Daisy Dean
Reply to Fred Brewer  
Point Lepreau is a lemon. New Brunswick has never had good luck with it.  
 
 
Greg Miller 
Reply to Daisy Dean  
Yea, and to top it off it's built on a geological fault line! What could possibly go wrong?  
 
 
Jack Bell
Reply to Fred Brewer 
You forgot about number 4.

4) Putting people in charge willing to pay $13 million for magic beans 

 
Daisy Dean  
This is going to be expensive. 
 
 
Stephen Gilbert 
was it made by the Ford Motor Company cause it seems to break down A LOT!  
 
 
Greg Miller 
Reply to Stephen Gilbert
Remember the soon to be installed turbines dropping overboard into the water? 
 
 
Stephen Gilber
Reply to Greg Miller
yup  
 
 
Allan McPartland 
Reply to Stephen Gilbert
That was an Irving screw up not an NB Power one  
 
 
 
 
 
Greg Miller 
Does anything work in this Province? Remember "go green" build more reactors but please don't put NB Power "at the helm"!  
 
 
Rosco holt  
Reply to Greg Miller
Too late Higgs has sunk money into micro nuke reactors. 
 
 
 
 

N.B. Power asks to give customers 1% rebate on monthly bills

Request is separate from the 8.9% rate increase the utility applied for in October

In October, the utility asked energy regulators to approve an 8.9 per cent increase in power rates for all its customers — the biggest rate hike in 15 years.

And that isn't changing.

But with "hedge gains," which refer to the risk-management strategy of hedging to offset potential losses or gains, and with the increase in hydro power, the utility is filing an application with the Energy and Utilities Board to reimburse customers a total of $15 million, effective April 1, 2023.

Factors out of utility's control 

"Due to changes that we're seeing in the market today, things that are outside of our control, the one per cent credit is as a result of improved hydro flows, as a result of improved export margins and a hedge transaction that we have benefited from in this year," said Lori Clark, acting CEO of N.B. Power. 

"So those are things that are a benefit to customers, and we're following the formulaic prescribed regulation."

Before now, N.B. Power had to absorb any "variances" after its rates were set based on forecasts of anticipated revenue and supply costs.

Before now, N.B. Power had to absorb any 'variances' after its rates were set based on forecasts of anticipated revenue and supply costs. (Mike Heenan/CBC News file photo)

But variances — in energy consumption, weather and exchange rates, for example — could result in either additional revenue or costs. According to N.B. Power, recent years have resulted in additional expenses that had to be absorbed by the utility.

Changes to the Electricity Act in 2021 mean there are now two variance accounts to track actual costs and revenue: the energy supply cost variance account and the electricity sales and margin variance account. 

The energy supply cost variance account represents the difference between the actual cost and budgeted cost of generating electricity. The electricity sales and margin variance account shows the difference between actual and budgeted revenue. 

Both changes would start April 1

The combined credit for the two accounts in the last fiscal year was $28.6 million. 

If the proposed $15 million reimbursement is approved by the EUB, it won't change the general rate application for the 8.9 increase, but it will mean a refund of one cent for every dollar they consume.

Clark said while the rate and the rebate are separate processes, they would both go into effect April 1. 

The variance will be calculated each year, said Clark, with some years possibly resulting in a credit like this year, or a "rate rider charge."

"This year, it's a good news story for customers," she said. "I think the important thing for customers [to know] is that this could go either way in the future."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Hannah Rudderham is a journalist with CBC New Brunswick. She grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and moved to Fredericton to go to St. Thomas University in 2018. She recently graduated with a bachelor of arts in journalism. You can send story tips to hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
  
 
31 Comments
 
 
David Amos
Methinks its an April Fools joke N'esy Pas?  
 
 
Arlene Gallant
Reply to David Amos
Agreed

 

 

Costs unknown as N.B. Power deals with breakdowns at 2 key generating stations

Lepreau and Bayside both idle during critical cold weather period

That's putting immediate pressure on N.B. Power's finances, which are already burdened by an ongoing breakdown at its natural gas generating station that would normally help replace energy from the idle nuclear plant.

So far N.B. Power has said only that a "leak" was discovered in part of Lepreau's non-nuclear system that transports heat generated in its reactor to the plant's conventional boilers. The boilers produce steam that drives Lepreau's electricity generating turbines. 

However, the utility was hinting a fix would not be immediate.

"Investigation and assessments are underway in order to determine the path forward," it said in a statement Thursday.

A red and white sign with black letters stands in front of an indsutrial site with billowing smoke stacks. The fossil-fuel-powered generating station at Coleson Cove, southwest of Saint John, is burning oil around the clock to produce electricity to help fill gaps left by two critical N.B. Power plants that are down for repairs, including the nuclear plant at Point Lepreau. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

Lepreau is N.B. Power's most important, and when it is operating its most lucrative generating station. But before the current shutdown, it was already having its worst year of production since coming out of a major refurbishment a decade ago.

An April maintenance outage that N.B. Power had hoped to keep to 10 weeks, dragged on for longer than 17 weeks as more issues than expected showed themselves.   

In evidence filed with the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board in October, N.B. Power revealed that the extended spring and summer outage meant it was only expecting to produce four million megawatt hours of electricity from Lepreau this year. 

That is one million fewer than last year and the lowest in any year since the plant emerged from a 4½-year refurbishment in 2012.

In addition, N.B. Power's natural gas generating station at Bayside in Saint John, which sometimes fills in for Lepreau during outages, also remains idle after suffering a catastrophic breakdown last winter.

Four red and white smokestacks stand against the sky. N.B. Power's Bayside natural gas generating station, far right, broke down with a catastrophic turbine failure last January and isn't expected to return to service until this January. It normally would help replace lost energy from an idle Point Lepreau. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

N.B. Power initially planned for a return to service for Bayside this fall, but now says it won't be operating until January.

That will force NB Power into the marketplace to replace at least some of the energy from Lepreau which is normally priced at a premium during cold weather months.

N.B. Power's Dominique Couture said in an email that the utility will "be utilizing our interconnections to purchase energy as required."     

"Costs are unknown at this time," she wrote.

In the past N.B. Power has said shutdowns at Lepreau cost it $1 million per day, but that likely understates the expense it faces at this time of year.

A statue of a person on a horse with snow falling in front of Massachusetts State House. The Massachusetts State House blanketed with snow during a nor'easter in Boston last January. During cold weather, New Brunswick has to compete with buyers from New England for electricity, usually at premium prices. (Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters)

N.B. Power executives have long pointed to the efficient operation of the Lepreau nuclear generating station as the key to its financial health.

The plant was meant to operate for 210,000 "effective full power hours" over 27 years following its renovation. However, at the end of March this year, it had logged 67,613, hours, a little more than 8,000 behind that original schedule.   

Troubles at Lepreau this year, including this week, have put it a further 1,300 hours behind that original target. 

Every hour of full production at Lepreau generates about $50,000 worth of electricity to sell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Robert Jones

Reporter

Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the adoption of price regulation in 2006.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
 
 
35 Comments 
 
 
Lou Bell
Another Trudeau " clean energy " fiasco ! 
 
 
William Peters
Reply to Lou Bell 
A scheme proposed by bankers to indebt the public sector for the benefit of the private sector. The economic benefit to the country was realized immediately after the money was borrowed and the things were built, so one can see why a federal politician could be recruited by the rationale and work to force these things upon poor provinces by arranging the financing. The economic cost to the province will never end. Even that is viewed as a success story to economic planners. We can't afford to decommission these projects so they will always necessitate more borrowing to avoid a final day of reckoning. As we grow public sector debts, private sector balance sheets expand. Some of our fellow men greatly benefit from this. We cannot refer to it as just a local failure. We have created NB sources of demand for economic output by bringing this here. It pressures us to extract more in order to grow the economy that can support this. The energy itself goes largely to subsidize human industry which is deemed to be necessary to carry these schemes. Progress is ultimately claimed to come from struggling to stay afloat.  
 
David Amos
Reply to William Peters
Duhhh??? 
 
 
Cal Sullivan
Reply to David Amos 
IMHO, your first two letters are correct, but should be followed by an m and b. His comment is clear as m ud. 
 
 
David Amos
Reply to Cal Sullivan 
Methinks I am entitled to a humble opinion too N'esy Pas? 
 
FYI I understood what he posted but did not understand why he made such a simple statement so convoluted Hence I responded with one sarcastic word like kids often do . 
 
 
David Amos
Reply to David Amos
BTW Pink Floyd expressed it best in "Us And Them" 
 
 
Dan Lee 
Reply to Lou Bell 
wha..??? actually......it was a case of Alward and Higgs with their brains that cost us over 1.2 billion over budget.on lepreau.....Lord"s orimulsion fiasco that ran us another 800 millions

the dose is really workin to improve our lives isnt he 

 

Pink Floyd on their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. 

The music was written by Richard Wright and lyrics by Roger Waters and it is sung by David Gilmour, with harmonies by Wright. 

LYRICS 

Us and Them 
And after all we're only ordinary men 
Me, and you 
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do 
Forward he cried from the rear 
and the front rank died 
And the General sat, 
as the lines on the map moved from side to side 
Black and Blue 
And who knows which is which and who is who 
Up and Down 
And in the end it's only round and round and round 
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words 
the poster bearer cried 
Listen son, said the man with the gun 
There's room for you inside 
Arlene Gallant 
 "Well I mean, they're gonna kill ya, so like, if you give 'em a quick sh...short, sharp shock, they don't do it again. Dig it? I mean he got off light, 'cause I coulda given 'I'm a thrashin' but I only hit him once. It's only the difference between right and wrong innit? I mean good manners don't cost nothing do they, eh?" 
 
Down and Out 
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about 
With, without 
And who'll deny that's what the fightings all about 
Get out of the way, 
it's a busy day 
And I've got things on my mind 
For want of the price of tea and a slice 
The old man died 
 
 
 
 

Pink Floyd - Us And Them (Official Video)

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