BRUCE HEAVY WATER PLANT DECOMMISSIONING PROJECT

The BHWP was in continuous operation from April 1973 until March 1998, for the
purpose of producing reactor-grade heavy water. The facility is no longer in operation.
OPG (formerly Ontario Hydro) is the owner and operator of the facility. The facility
consisted of two plants (A and B) which included enriching units, finishing units and
associated auxiliary systems and buildings needed to support heavy water production.
Construction of a third plant (D) was suspended in 1978 and that plant did not proceed to
operation.
In 1997, Ontario Hydro (now OPG) decided to permanently shut-down the heavy water
producing facilities. All of the hydrogen sulphide was removed from facility systems or
disposed of by controlled flaring. Structures were placed in a safe mothballed state, or
demolished for safety reasons. Chemicals associated with the production of heavy water
were disposed of using approved conventional methods. At present, there are no active
production facilities on the site.
Subsequent to the shut-down, OPG notified the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB,
now the CNSC) of its intention to apply for regulatory approval to decommission the
facility. The decommissioning proposal involves permanently retiring and removing the
remaining heavy water production facility, and includes the following primary
components:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
the removal or demolition of buildings, structures and equipment used for heavy
water production, except for infrastructure required for maintaining site service
system integrity for other separately licensed facilities on the Bruce nuclear site;
the remediation of the site (removal of demolition debris and clean-up of
contaminated soil) to a state suitable for general industrial land uses;
the recycling of any reusable and recyclable materials and equipment; and
the management of solid and liquid wastes generated during the conduct of the
decommissioning project.
The decommissioning activities are proposed to take seven to eight years to complete,
with environmental monitoring continuing for up to three years following completion of
the work.
2.2 Purpose of Decommissioning Project
The purpose of the decommissioning project is to permanently retire the BHWP from
service as a nuclear facility licensed for the production of heavy water. All heavy water
plant buildings, structures and equipment would be removed or demolished, and the site
restored to a state suitable for industrial purposes unrelated to the production of heavy
water.
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