AECL says N.B. reactor delay now 16 months

The $1.4-billion refurbishment of Atlantic Canada's only nuclear reactor is now more than a year behind schedule, with the target date for power to be generated again at Point Lepreau, N.B., delayed until February 2011.

New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir said in an interview Saturday that Hugh MacDiarmid,CEO of federal Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., updated him Thursday about the latest delay.

AECL now expects to hand the refurbished reactor back to NB Power on Oct. 15, 2010. At that point, NB Power will finish the final stages of the massive project, with the goal of generating electricity againby February 2011.

The Point Lepreaureactor was supposed to restart on Oct. 1, 2009. Earlier in September, it was estimated the project was nine months behind.

Keir said AECL is accepting full responsibility for the setback and is now making the refurbishment project its top priority.

"Hugh MacDiarmid said very clearly to us that it is their fault. But it is not about blame at this point, it is about getting the job done," Keir said.

AECL is blaming the delay on an overly optimistic timeline at the start of the project and not enough advance preparation work, Keir said.

"Our argument was this contract was signed on an opportunity for success. And it is clear from what he told us on Thursday is, there was no chance for success," Keir said.

"Hindsight is 20/20: He's looked back and seen what work was put into it, and there was no chance for success."

Opposition reacts

New Brunswick's opposition leader is pointing the finger at NB Power over the delays.

David Alward was a minister when the contract was signed under the previous Conservative government.

NB Power told the government the original deadline of this month was achievable, Alward said Saturday, while attending the PC policy convention in Moncton.

"NB Power made the recommendation that the project going forward did make sense and we had built sufficient buffer into it that it was the best decision."

Alward also accused the Liberals of covering up the delays until recent weeks.

But Liberal cabinet minister Donald Arseneault said rather than criticize, the Tories should come up with a clear energy policy.

"They'd just rather take the issue of because there's an extra cost and delays on the project, they'll jump on that issue," he said.

"But they really have to come forward on really where they stand on energy and where they want to bring the energy file forward."

First Candu-6 refurbishment

This is the world's first refurbishment of a Candu-6 reactor, and AECL had hoped that it would be a model to sell to other countries that had also purchased the same reactor.

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier this month expressing his concern over the uncertainty regarding the massive project's completion date.

In Graham's letter, he said NB Power turned over its portion of the refurbishment project on schedule to AECL.

The province's former Progressive Conservative government renegotiated the refurbishment contracts with AECL, buildingin penalties if the project went over budget or was delayed.

Keir said the New Brunswick government will be arguing that AECL's admission of sole responsibilityfor the delays will absolve provincial taxpayers of any financial liability.

"It is solely their responsibility, therefore there should be no sharing of pain," Keir said.

"That is our argument, and we will make that argument very forcefully to the federal government."

NB Power has estimated that replacement fuel for each day the nuclear reactor is not runningcosts it$1 million.

Keir said the latest admission from AECL will have an impact on power rates, but he said it is too early to tell how much that could be.

The Crown nuclear corporation has had a tough year. Its reactor at Chalk River, Ont., which produces the major part of the world's supply of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine, went offline in mid-May and has suffered three delays in repairs totalling nine months so far.