Mammoet has installed eight steam generators at unit 3 of the Bruce Power nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada, using a PTC-35 crane.
The unit 3 major component replacement (MCR) programme began in 2023. Bruce Power said the project is on track and the plant is scheduled to return to service in 2026.
Bruce Power and the Steam Generator Replacement Team (SGRT) – a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Aecon and the Steam Generating Team – have been behind the lifting of these 100-tonne steam generators out of the Bruce A station via its roof, then lifting the new ones back in using Mammoet’s 100 m-high PTC-35 crane. SGT is a partnership between Framatome Canada and United Canadian Operations.
Initially, the 300-tonne steam drums had to be moved out of the way on a track system and set aside for inspection and maintenance.
“This was a huge undertaking that required more than a year-and-a-half of planning just to get to the execution phase, which was delivered safely and successfully through a high degree of collaboration,” said Rob Hoare, Bruce Power’s vice president of MCR execution.
More than 97 percent of the approximately USD250 million of privately funded cost of the unit 3 steam generator replacement, has been – and will be – spent on parts and labour within Ontario.
SGRT was responsible for recruiting roughly 425 people for the project, including 320 skilled tradespeople and the rest in project management – such as engineers, technicians and project managers.
With the unit 3 steam generators produced by BWXT in Cambridge, Ontario, around 20 years ago and then stored on the Bruce Power site, the company is working ahead on components for the remainder of the MCR project. Last August, Bruce Power and SGRT signed a USD700 million contract for the replacement of steam generators in the remaining MCR outages in units 5, 7 and 8.
“Our team brings innovative solutions, expertise and lessons learned to improve performance on each steam generator replacement working with Bruce Power as part of SGRT,” added Art Lembo, president of SGT.
In November 2024, HLPFI reported on the role that Mammoet was playing at the Bruce Power project.
