Bruce nuclear refit $1 billion over budget

TransCanada Corp. reported that refurbishing two units of the Bruce A nuclear plant near Kincardine has cost $3.8 billion to date.

The original cost estimate, when the project was announced in 2005 was $2.75 billion.

And the project is far from finished, as TransCanada says the plant wonÂ’t be restarted until the end of 2011, with commercial operation beginning in 2012.

It was originally planned to be restarted by the end of 2009.

TransCanada says its share of the total cost of the project is expected to be $2.4 billion. It owns Bruce Power in partnership with the OMERS pension fund and an employee group.