BWXT in Peterborough

Contact:

Kathleen Augustin
Manager, CO Communications & Community Relations
[email protected]
1.855.696.9588

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BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada (formerly known as GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada) has been involved with the Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) industry from its earliest years.

At BWXT in Peterborough, we have two operations:

Fuel Bundle Manufacturing
Fuel Handling & Engineered Solutions

About Fuel Bundle Manufacturing:

Our employees assemble fuel bundles for use in CANDU reactors.

Natural uranium pellets are produced at our Toronto facility, and zirconium tubes are manufactured at our Arnprior facility. These components are then shipped to our Peterborough operation, where they are assembled into fuel bundles that meet the stringent requirements of reactor operating conditions.

The fuel bundles manufactured at our Peterborough facility go on to provide approximately 25% of Ontario’s electricity!

Quick Facts:

CANDU fuel bundles are the size of a fireplace log and provide enough electricity for 100 homes for 18 months. The fuel bundles are loaded into horizontal fuel channels (called pressure tubes), which run the length of the reactor vessel (known as the calandria).¹
About 12 bundles are loaded into each fuel channel, depending on the model. A 790-megawatt CANDU reactor contains 480 channels, 5,760 bundles and more than 5 million fuel pellets. This entire system then provides the electricity needs for half a million families.¹

Interested in learning more? Check out our Virtual Tour.

About Fuel Handling & Engineered Solutions

As the original designer and manufacturer of CANDU fuel handling systems worldwide, BWXT in Peterborough has a legacy of providing excellence in fuel services.

BWXT’s fuel handling, reactor inspection, maintenance tooling and delivery systems are designed and manufactured in Peterborough. These highly engineered systems and tools support refurbishment requirements for reactor refuelling, fuel channel inspection and maintenance, and other reactor operating needs. We are proud that our operations produce components and tooling that will enable the production of life-saving nuclear medicine.

Quick Facts:

Our employees design and manufacture highly technical tooling that can inspect and maintain reactors, reducing radiation doses to workers and reducing outage times.
With 67,000 square feet of manufacturing space, the Peterborough facility is able to design, procure, manufacture, assemble and test all in one location.
Through a collaboration with Laurentis Energy Partners, a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), we designed specialized tooling, known as the Target Delivery System, to increase the production of this life-saving medical isotope at OPG’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. This system was designed and manufactured in Peterborough.