Point Lepreau II

New Brunswick is home to Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear generating facility, the Point Lepreau Generating Station. The 25 year-old CANDU-6 reactor is currently undergoing a refurbishment to prolong the life of the reactor by up to 30 years. The success of the refurbishment has the potential to sustain and expand the nuclear expertise in the region, which could lead the Province of New Brunswick to proceed with plans for additional reactor capacity.

In August 2007 the Province received Team CANDU New Brunswick’s feasibility study and has since hired a third-party consulting firm to perform a viability study to examine the possibility of a second reactor for the province. The proposed reactor would involve an estimated $4 billion investment in next generation technology and create approximately 4000 construction jobs and 500 permanent operating positions.

Team CANDU New Brunswick’s feasibility study examined the use of AECL’s ACR-1000 reactor, the next generation in CANDU technology. The ACR-1000 (Advanced CANDU Reactor) is still in development stages, with an expected in-service date of 2016. The reactor would retain the benefits of the CANDU technology and would improve on efficiency, lengthen the life-span of the reactor, and increase reactor capacity to a projected 1080.

To learn more about the ACR-1000, please visit http://www.aecl.ca