Nu-Tech starts shipping pressure tubes to Darlington for $12.8B nuclear retrofit
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
The six-metre pressure tubes house the uranium used to fuel the nuclear plant's four Candu reactors
Each reactor at the Darlington plant will require 480 new pressure tubes before refurbishment work is complete. PHOTO: OPG
ARNPRIOR, Ont.—The Ontario manufacturer that has built every pressure tube for Canada’s homegrown Candu reactors since 1957 has started shipping its newest six-metre tubes to Darlington as part of the nuclear plant’s $12.8 billion refurbishment.
Nu-Tech Precision Metals Inc. said May 4 it has completed work on the first of hundreds of zirconium pressure tubes required for the project and is ready to begin shipping the components to the nuclear site east of Toronto.
The major retrofit project got underway at the Ontario Power Generation plant last fall, but is not expected to be complete until 2026. It involves refurbishing all four the approximately 20-year-old plant’s reactors, which will extend its life to 2055.
The Nu-Tech pressure tubes house the uranium used to fuel Candu reactors. Each reactor will require 480 new pressure tubes before refurbishment is complete.
OPG expects the $12.8 billion project to create 14,000 jobs at companies across Ontario’s nuclear supply industry.
