Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station - History

History

The construction of a nuclear plant in New Brunswick had been discussed since the late 1950s. For over 15 years, engineers from the New Brunswick Electric Power Commission visited federal Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, to keep abreast of the latest trends in the field. Formal talks between Premier Richard Hatfield and the Canadian government began in 1972. Discussions accelerated the next year, in the midst of the 1973 oil crisis, as the province was looking for ways to diversify its electricity supply and reduce its reliance on oil. However, financing the venture was a problem since the province had a limited borrowing capacity.

The last obstacle was lifted by the federal government in January 1974, with the announcement of a loan program covering half the costs of a first nuclear plant in a province. Hatfield announced his intention to build a first reactor in New Brunswick on February 5, 1974. Reelected in the fall, despite misgivings by part of the population, the Progressive Conservative government follows through with the plan. In March 1975, Hatfield declared on television that the decision was final, and that the reactor would be built regardless of the on-going environmental assessment process, in a move described by New Brunswick sociologist Ronald Babin as the "nuclear fait accompli policy".

On May 2, 1975, the Atomic Energy Control Board authorized the construction of two 635-MW reactors on a site designed to host four in Point Lepreau, 20 km west of Saint John, New Brunswick's largest city. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission began the construction of one reactor, with an option for a second one.

At its peak in 1979, the construction project employed 3,500 workers and 108 individual contracts out of 139, were granted to local businesses. Point Lepreau was licensed for operation on July 21, 1982, achieved criticality four days later and began commercial operations on February 1, 1983.

Tense labour relations on the worksite and skyrocketing construction costs, a common trait among large infrastructure projects built in that period, tripled the early forecasts. The estimated price tag of C$466 million in 1974 increased to C$684 two years later and to C$895 in 1978. At the time of its commissioning in 1983, the total cost was estimated at C$1.4 billion, excluding interest charges.