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Approval Process

To allow sufficient time for conclusion of the approval process by the provincial government and to recognize the value of an additional two years of station operation prior to refurbishment, the start date for the Refurbishment outage was shifted from April 2006 to April 2008. A detailed technical evaluation of the impact of a delay on the ageing of fuel channel and feeder components was performed and concluded that this new schedule was appropriate.

Public Utilities Board Process

In 2002, planned expenditures in excess of $75 million for upgrade or maintenance of generating facilities in New Brunswick required a review by the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities (PUB). The PUB reviewed the financial aspects of the project, including comparison to alternatives.

NB Power filed the necessary evidence on the Point Lepreau Generating Station proposed refurbishment project with the PUB in February 2002. The PUB process allowed for interested members of the public to register themselves as intervenors. Intervenors provided two rounds of written questions, which were addressed by NB Power. Following the written interrogatories, there was a formal public hearing that began on May 27, 2002, and ran through into June.

On September 24, 2002, the PUB recommended to NB Power's Board of Directors that it not proceed with the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau Generating Station based on its conclusion that there was no significant economic advantage. It was the PUB's opinion that there were aspects of the refurbishment option for which the economic impact was uncertain and could therefore reduce the advantage of the proposed refurbishment.

The PUB's mandate was to consider only the economic evidence presented and that any assessments other than economic must be conducted by government. The PUB did not assess other factors such as CO2 reduction targets, further legislated SO2 release reductions, or socio-economic impacts.

Dr. Robin Jeffrey Review

The Province of New Brunswick commissioned nuclear expert Dr. Robin Jeffrey to compile a report on the potential refurbishment of the Point Lepreau Generating Station. In his report released in April 2004, Dr. Jeffrey made three key recommendations on the project including:

  1. NB Power should revise contracts with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to provide a more suitable risk balance in the project execution.
  2. NB Power should validate the costs of alternate fossil generation options.
  3. The government should consider alternative ownership or equity investment in the station.

In addition Dr. Jeffrey recommended that the government should consider additional factors, such as number of highly skilled employees, the environment and contribution to the economy, when making its decision. Dr. Jeffrey concluded with effective management, the cost and schedule estimates for the Point Lepreau Generating Station refurbishment were capable of being met.