Equipment milestone sets stage for success for Refurb

On May 31, the last trucks unloaded a massive tooling platform at the Darlington Energy Complex in Courtice. The tools will be used for retubing and feeder replacement during the upcoming Darlington Refurbishment, which begins in just under 100 days.

More than 9,000 tools and 25,000-plus documents and drawings are now in place. Having the full set of equipment on site and ready to execute is a huge accomplishment as it sets the groundwork for a successful breaker open in October. Most importantly, the tools allow the construction trades to remove highly irradiated components productively, and with minimal dose exposure levels.

“Hundreds of technical experts from around the province have been involved in designing, building, manufacturing, and testing this complex set of tools,” said Refurbishment Project Manager Michael Hersch. “Thanks to our partners SNC-Lavalin and Aecon Group Inc., we’re hitting key deadlines, maintaining quality, controlling costs and are on track to begin work on the first of four nuclear units.”

By the numbers

• Fuel channel installation tools consist of hundreds of hand tools specially designed for each delicate task of putting a fuel channel into position.
• The base tooling package includes 29 major tool sets and hundreds of individual unique tools designed and built with over a million components.
• The largest of the tool sets is the waste tooling system, which spans 1,800 square metres and will be installed in a new facility designed and built to safely process waste from the refurbishment project.
• The $12.8-billion investment in refurbishing Darlington’s four units will generate $14.9 billion in economic benefits to Ontario.
• Darlington Nuclear provides about 20 per cent of the province’s electricity needs, enough to serve a city of two million people.