Bruce Power scores highest marks ever on CNSC safety grading

Bruce Power has received the highest marks in its 14-year history on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)’s annual safety grading of Canada’s nuclear plants.

 

“We have worked very hard to continuously improve our safety performance and we’re seeing those efforts reflected in the CNSC report card,” says Duncan Hawthorne, president and chief executive officer of Bruce Power. “The credit for this goes to our employees as they are the ones who show up to work every day with an unwavering focus on safety.”

 

The nuclear regulator provides grades in 15 different safety categories. Bruce A received three "Fully Satisfactory" and 12 "Satisfactory" grades while Bruce B received four "Fully Satisfactory" grades and 11 "Satisfactory."

 

Bruce B received an Integrated Plant Rating of "Fully Satisfactory" which is the highest ranking a nuclear plant can achieve and an improvement over last year. Bruce B also received "Fully Satisfactory" in Operating Performance, Conventional Health and Safety, Waste Management and Security.

Bruce A received "Fully Satisfactory" marks in Conventional Health and Safety, Waste Management and Security.

The CNSC has compared the "Fully Satisfactory" and "Satisfactory" marks to grades of ‘A+’ and ‘A,’ respectively, in media reports.

 

While this is the strongest report card to date, the company will continue to aim even higher, says Hawthorne. “Good operators are never satisfied. They’re always looking to make improvements.”

The executive summary of the report states that each year, the CNSC produces this report on the safety performance of Canada’s nuclear power plants. The Regulatory Oversight Report for Canadian Nuclear Power Plants: 2014, provides the CNSC staff’s assessment of the Canadian nuclear power industry’s safety performance during 2014 and details the progress of regulatory issues and initiatives up to April 30, 2015.
 

In 2014:

• Six Nuclear Power Plants had operating licences

• Nineteen reactor units were operational

• Gentilly-2 was transitioning to safe storage throughout the year and completed the transition on Dec. 2, 2014

• Pickering Units 2 and 3 remained in safe storage, consistent with previous years, since they were defuelled in 2008
 

Overall performance highlights

Through site inspections, reviews and assessments, CNSC staff concluded that the Nuclear Power Plants operated safely during 2014. The evaluations of all findings for the safety and control areas show that, overall, Nuclear Power Plant licensees made adequate provisions for the protection of the health, safety and security of persons and the environment from the use of nuclear energy, and took the measures required to implement Canada’s international obligations.
 

The following observations support the conclusion of safe operation:

• There were no serious process failures at the Nuclear Power Plants

• No member of the public received a radiation dose that exceeded the regulatory limit

• No worker at any plant received a radiation dose that exceeded the regulatory limits

• The frequency and severity of non-radiological injuries to workers were minimal

• No radiological releases to the environment from the stations exceeded the regulatory limits

• Licensees complied with licence conditions concerning Canada’s international obligations

• No plant events, above level 0 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), were reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The rating categories, used in the table, are “Fully Satisfactory” (FS), “Satisfactory” (SA), “Below Expectations” (BE) and “Unacceptable” (UA). A rating of “Satisfactory” indicates that the licensee’s safety and control measures are effective, while a “Fully Satisfactory” indicates they are highly effective. A rating of “Below Expectations” indicates the safety and control measures are marginally ineffective, while “Unacceptable” indicates the safety and control measures are significantly ineffective.
 

All plants received ratings of either “Fully Satisfactory” or “Satisfactory”. There were 14 “Fully Satisfactory” ratings across the stations – a net increase of three in comparison to 2013.

 

The full report card is available at www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca.
 

CNSC hearings are webcast live at www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca or are available to view anytime at http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/the-commission/webcasts/archived/index.cfm.