New Brunswick nuclear reactor returns to service after lengthy refurbishment

FREDERICTON – Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant has returned to commercial operation for the first time since March 2008.

New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau reactor underwent a major refurbishment that was plagued by delays and cost overruns.

The original $1.4-billion project took three years more than expected and cost an extra billion dollars.

NB Power president Gaetan Thomas says the power generator is expected to last another 27 years because of the refurbishment.

Provincial Energy Minister Craig Leonard says Point Lepreau is critical to the province’s goal of generating 75 per cent of its electricity from clean, renewable or non-emitting sources by 2020.