Bruce Power decision wonÂ’t affect Cameco

Cameco Port Hope will not be affected in the short term by Bruce Power's decision to refurbish its A and B Bruce nuclear stations rather than build new reactors to supply Ontario with 6,300 megawatts of electricity because doing so is more economical.

The company said it will withdraw its application to build new reactors at Nanticoke, Ontario, due to declining electricity demand in the Central Canadian province.

"It's strictly a business decision based on the current economic situation in Ontario," said senior communications specialist Doug Prendergast, Cameco Port Hope.

Bruce said it will study the feasibility of refurbishing units 3 to 8 at Bruce, which would inject another 1,500 MW of baseload generation into the Ontario market, following the successful restart of units 1 and 2.

"From Cameco Port Hope's perspective, it really doesn't have an impact on our business," said Prendergast.

He said that the new reactors would take 10 years or more to bring online, so there is no short-term effect for Cameco.

"Development of new reactors would have an impact in the long term, but there are no impacts to our plans at this time," said Prendergast.