Bruce Power Completes Construction Phase of Unit 3 MCR in February 2026

Bruce Power announced completion of the construction phase of the Major Component Replacement for Unit 3 at the Bruce nuclear generating station on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, clearing the way for refuelling and return‑to‑service activities. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission issued a letter dated 16 February stating, "Bruce Power has met all of the pre‑requisites established by the CNSC to remove RHP‑1," and Bruce Power posted to its corporate Facebook page on Feb 18 at 8:41 AM that the project stayed on budget and ahead of schedule.

The work completed during the outage included replacement of 480 fuel channels, 960 end fittings and eight steam generators, with World Nuclear News carrying an image caption showing a replacement steam generator being lifted into the Bruce A generating station. Unit 3, a CANDU heavy water reactor taken offline in March 2023, is now moving from construction to lead‑out activities including final inspections and regulatory approvals before a grid return.

Operations staff at Bruce Power were scheduled to begin refuelling Unit 3 with 5,760 fuel bundles later in February 2026, subject to the RHP‑1 removal that the CNSC confirmed on 16 February. World Nuclear News and Nucnet both reported that refuelling and regulatory inspections are the immediate next steps as Bruce Power prepares to return the renewed unit to Ontario’s electricity grid in the coming months.

The refurbishment is part of a six‑unit MCR programme covering Units 3 to 8 between 2020 and 2033 intended to extend the station’s life. Nucnet reports the Unit 3 MCR will extend Bruce‑3’s operating life by 30 to 35 years, while local broadcaster 89.3 CFOS said the refurbished unit is expected to supply enough clean electricity "to power a city the size of Brampton for the next 35 years or more." Nucnet also states the wider programme aims to extend the Bruce site life by 40 years and is expected to cost CAD 13 billion ($9.4bn, €8bn).

Bruce Power and partners framed the milestone in economic and grid terms. CFOS credited "thousands of hours of work by skilled tradespeople and project partners" and reported the initiative supports roughly 22,000 jobs annually and contributes about four billion dollars to Ontario’s economy each year. Nucnet highlighted that the programme will support long‑term electricity supply, maintain production of medical isotopes and help meet an Independent Electricity System Operator projection that Ontario electricity demand could grow by as much as 75% in the coming decades.

Execution partner SPG, a joint venture of Aecon, AtkinsRéalis and United Engineers and Constructors, was named in LinkedIn posts accompanying the corporate updates. Bruce Power’s LinkedIn page, which showed 86,474 followers in the post excerpt, echoed the company statement that the team completed construction "on budget and ahead of schedule" and is now focused on refuelling and regulatory activities.

With RHP‑1 removed and construction declared complete, Bruce Power and the CNSC have set the immediate timetable: refuelling with 5,760 bundles and completion of regulatory inspections before returning Unit 3 to commercial service. Bruce Power and World Nuclear News both state the renewed unit is expected back on the grid "in the coming months," keeping this second of six MCR outages on the programme schedule between 2020 and 2033.