SUMMER 2016

FromTHE Point STATION NEWS FOR THE COMMUNITY

Earth Day Celebrations Building strong relationships with the community

Meet Brett Plummer Continuing to lead the Nuclear team to excellence

NB Power is pleased to re-introduce the From THE Point newsletter that will serve as an additional communication channel between NB Power and the Point Lepreau Generating Station communities. Seismic Protection

2 The nuclear energy industry has To support life extension to re-evaluate earthquake hazards. a simple, yet effective, approach: activities performed as part of the NB Power hired external experts expect the unexpected and prepare refurbishment project, NB Power to perform the seismic hazard for it. That is why nuclear plants undertook planning studies that assessment, a project that included are designed and built with layer examined the response to events a paleo seismology study involving upon layer of protection against well beyond those considered in field work by experts to identify accidents, including earthquakes. the original design. if there is any evidence of large

PLNGS is designed and constructed to meet rigorous regulatory safety requirements.

In recent years, nuclear power PLNGS is designed and constructed earthquakes that may have occurred plants in North America and to meet rigorous regulatory safety since the ice age and how long ago throughout the world have been requirements. they may have occurred. This was subjected to significant earthquakes done to add to the historical record and experience has confirmed Specific enhancements were of recorded earthquakes and to the the seismic robustness of North made to the Station as part of the geological study of faults. American nuclear plants. refurbishment project. Additional portable emergency mitigating The preliminary findings of the There are numerous components equipment was also installed. assessment showed that the to seismic protection in nuclear These enhancements bring a earthquake hazard, or seismicity, plants, including safety features broader level of diversity into for PLNGS had not changed in the reactor designs, rigorous the protection system as well substantially since the Station engineering codes and standards, as response capability. was built. and specific requirements for the strength of steel and concrete used To address the topic of potential On April 29, 2016, NB Power posted to build the plants. These design and very large seismic events, a its PLNGS seismic hazards summary construction practices are above Probabilistic Safety Assessment update that provides further and beyond the level of protection to determine a seismic margin details on the evolution of seismic needed to safely withstand was performed. This assessment evaluation methodologies as well significant ground motion. evaluated plant robustness as the progress that NB Power has and identified areas where been making. Based on knowledge of the improvements could be made region’s potential earthquake to increase the likelihood of The 2015 probabilistic seismic hazard gathered in the mid-to-late avoiding reactor core damage and hazard assessment has been 1970s, key systems, structures and large radioactive releases from reviewed and accepted by components at the Point Lepreau containment caused by a very the Canadian Nuclear Safety Nuclear Generating Station (PLNGS) rare, large earthquake. The insights Commission. were designed to withstand gained from this study were used significant seismic activity and to perform even more seismic The ongoing Seismic work is being ensure worker and public safety. upgrades at the plant during the performed by PLNGS demonstrates refurbishment outage. NB Power’s commitment to The plant can be safely shut down continuous improvement. PLNGS and maintained in the shutdown NB Power also committed to staff are well trained and fully state for earthquakes of even the Canadian Nuclear Safety prepared 24/7 to respond to any larger size than those originally Commission to perform a state-of- emergencies that may occur at the contemplated. the-art seismic hazard assessment Station.

3 Environment in our community

4 Being involved in the community and For the marigold planting activity, the stewards of the environment is important younger students at the school plant to staff at PLNGS. Every year, Station staff marigold seeds in their classrooms and join students and teachers from the Fundy when they’re ready to be transplanted, the Shores School to promote awareness about older students come to the Station to plant the role and responsibility that everyone the flowers in a garden at the front security can play in helping to protect our natural gate. habitat. That’s why May and June are busy

NB Power’s annual environmental awareness celebration “ with the employees of the Point Lepreau Nuclear“ Generating Station continues to be one of the most anticipated events for the students of Fundy Shores School

- Sean Gorman, Principal of Fundy Shores School.

months for the students of the school “After months of watering and tending the with a community clean-up day, Earth Day flowers from seeds to full-grown plants, celebration and annual marigold planting - our students consider it a privilege to walk traditions that everyone looks forward to. to the gates of the Station and to brighten the entrance with marigolds,” said Sylvia “NB Power’s annual environmental Dell’Olio, a teacher at Fundy Shores School. awareness celebration with the employees “Our students enjoyed interacting with the of the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating workers from the Station and shared many Station continues to be one of the most laughs and camaraderie while working anticipated events for the students of Fundy together. Through joint efforts such as Shores School. It’s a wonderful opportunity this the bonds of community between the for the students to learn about taking care school and the plant are fostered.” of their community in a way that is not only instructional, but includes mentoring Events like these provide NB Power with and hands on learning as well,” said Sean an opportunity to connect and build strong Gorman, Principal of Fundy Shores School. relationships with its youngest community members. These events kicked off with discussions about the importance of protecting the environment. Then the students divided into groups with Station employees to collect litter and recyclables around the school property.

5 Engaging with our community

6 SAVING MONARCH BUTTERFLIES Members of the Saint John Jim works quickly to catch future generations continue to fly Naturalists’ Club are tagging a butterfly in his net. In the north before the fourth generation endangered Monarch butterflies at observatory, Jim softly grabs a flies back to Mexico. “Unfortunately, NB Power’s Point Lepreau Nuclear Monarch by its robust wing. With we still don’t know what triggers Generating Station. The club started a toothpick, he places the round, this urge to migrate,” says Jim. observing sea ducks in the spring hole-punched-sized sticker in the of 1996. Since that time, the club middle of the wing. Once tagged, Monarchs remain an endangered and the utility have collaborated on the butterfly orients itself for a few species, although researchers collecting invaluable data about bird seconds on Jim’s hand. Then, it flies predict an increase in the numbers migration, as well as, since 2006, out the open window, out of sight arriving this November. Illegal tagging butterflies. among the goldenrods, getting logging in Mexico, the use of

ready for its long flight. herbicides in the United States, and Point Lepreau is so important“ to the “ Monarch migration - Jim Wilson

Monarchs migrate more than 3,000 climate change have taken their toll kilometers every fall to spend the on Monarchs. Last year, statistics winter in the South - but only one showed a record low number of the generation per year. In 2012, Jim butterflies. tagged two butterflies at Lepreau that were found in Mexico - the The observatory at Point Lepreau is furthest travel distance recorded. one of only two tagging stations in The black, orange and yellow . It plays an essential insects cluster on trees in the part in helping organizations like 10,000-foot elevated Mexican Monarch Watch to encourage North Oyamel Fir Forests for protection Americans to take action to save and warmth. In spring, they fly to the butterflies, and providing data the next water source that tells their for research and education. Club member Jim Wilson catches bodies to stop the semi-hibernation and tags this largest of North and find a mating partner. In fact, “It has been a wonderful experience American butterflies around the they can have up to eight! working with NB Power. We are lighthouse at Point Lepreau where very appreciative for this great goldenrod, aster and thistle bloom. Migrating north, the female lays relationship of more than 19 years,” “Point Lepreau is so important to eggs on milkweed, a green plant says Jim. the Monarch migration,” says Jim. with over 100 species in North “It is arguably the best site in America, 30 of which are good for New Brunswick with undisturbed the insects. The plants are both fields and the plants where they home and food source for larvae find just what they need.” and caterpillars. Once hatched, the

LINKS: BEACON http://www.newbrunswickbeacon.ca/42968/tag-butterfly/ MONARCH WATCH http://www.monarchwatch.org/ SJ NATURALISTS CLUB http://www.saintjohnnaturalistsclub.org/ 7 Meet Brett Plummer

Site Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer

Brett Plummer became the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station (PLNGS) Site Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer on November 1, 2015. Leading up to that role, Brett served as a member of NB Power’s Corporate Nuclear Oversight Team. With 35 years of commercial nuclear power plant experience, he will continue to lead the Nuclear team to excellence to ensure a safe, predictable, and reliable operation for the life of the plant.

Q &A Q. How do you think your The other thing I took away is how important teamwork is. On a Sub, hierarchy didn’t matter military background helps when it came to safety. Everyone’s opinion you in your current role? mattered equally when concerns about nuclear or radiological safety came up. This is A. Working on a US Nuclear Navy submarine something I see demonstrated throughout NB for almost five years in the early years of Power – safety belongs to all of us. my career taught me the importance of procedural adherence. In that environment, you are living and sleeping right next to a Q. Tell us a bit about your nuclear reactor, which gives nuclear safety a whole new meaning and importance. We had commercial nuclear power to maintain really high standards and rigour in experience. terms of the quality of how we did our work. This is something equally important at Point A. I started at Seabrook Station Nuclear Lepreau and all nuclear power plants. Power Plant in New Hampshire in Operations,

8 and became a certified staff member. I then worked a huge role to play in this province, and need to do our at Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant for over a part to keep rates low and stable for customers. How decade, in Operations on shift in the control room and we’ll do that is by safely operating the unit with the eventually I became Operations Manager. When that best human performance in the industry. plant decommissioned, I spent approximately a year and a half with the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators I want to see PLNGS experience the kind of (INPO), visiting many nuclear plants, which gave me improvement trajectory that Seabrook went on. That an opportunity to see the best and the worst of the was one of my proudest career accomplishments, and industry. by far the most rewarding experience. Everyone there could see and feel the difference. I want PLNGS to be I then returned to Seabrook, leading the Operations a learning and teaching organization that strives for team and the station. We created a vision of what we excellence in every aspect of our operation. wanted to become, and got everyone engaged and working towards common goals. In a relatively short It feels good to work at a high performing plant. time, we moved from the middle of the pack to become Everyone’s quality of life improves. Plus, best plants one of the top performing nuclear power plants in the are also the safest and most economical plants, and I world. In the years since, Seabrook has maintained this think we can all agree that keeping everyone safe and high level of performance. producing cost-effective power is what we’re here to do.

Q. What are your focus areas for this year? Q. What do you think of New Brunswick? A. We’re going to build on our Navigating for Excellence plan. To do this, we have rallied our team A. I absolutely love it here. I’m living in Little Lepreau, behind the common goals we need to achieve. We only minutes from the plant. I am not a city person; need everyone on board and doing their part to rural coastal living in a small tight-knit community is make the needed improvements.  exactly what I am used to. My home in Maine is on a small island named Westport. Little Lepreau is actually We are focusing on improving our equipment reliability a step up from Westport since the roads are paved and predictability by getting ahead of challenges here! before they find us. We’re reinforcing human performance tool use (tools that help workers prevent I’d also like to acknowledge how welcoming and errors) and re-affirming our Station standards and supportive people have been since I joined the team. expectations so everyone is clear on what excellence The Lepreau community, the workforce and the rest of looks like. We’re also working to improve our issue NB Power have all been great. I am excited to be part of management process to more effectively manage such a strong and determined team. emergent issues that pose threats to safety and/or generation.

Completing the 2016 planned maintenance outage Q. How do you spend your safely and getting all of the required jobs completed spare time? has set us up for solid performance until the next planned outage. A. I have two beautiful daughters who are grown up, and I am engaged to a nuclear professional in the US.

Lobster fishing is a passion of mine; I have a commercial Q. What are your long-term lobster licence and my own boat since I was 16 years aspirations for PLNGS? old. I also enjoy snowmobiling and spending time with my dog. A. First off, we will run safely, predictably and reliably between our planned maintenance outages. We have

9 Emergency Preparedness Intrepid 2015 Highlights

The 2015 Intrepid Emergency Many industry best practices storms and outages when we Exercise was a great success were observed in our need to work together for the for NB Power and the Province performance and processes, people of New Brunswick. of New Brunswick. It was the validating our continuous largest non-military emergency improvement efforts. The Over the past several years, the exercise ever to be conducted report also noted valuable Station has invested in a number in this province. In compliance opportunities for improvement of enhancements to our site with regulatory requirements that are currently being to comply with new regulatory to operate the Point Lepreau assessed. requirements, and to ensure Nuclear Generating Station that we continue to get safer (PLNGS), the exercise was For example - The Lepreau and stronger. Some of these evaluated by the Canadian Wardens at the Off-site enhancements include: Nuclear Safety Commission Emergency Operation Center • Dedicated emergency (CNSC) and observed by were a great asset due to their response team of highly national and international knowledge of the community. trained people in safety and counterparts. emergency preparedness. An exercise of this magnitude • A diesel driven water pump Approximately 1500 people requires a great deal of that will put cold water into participated in the exercise planning and preparation. the reactor core to cool the with NB Power, including local While NB Power and the fuel in the unlikely case that residents, emergency response New Brunswick Emergency our multiple layers of safety personnel, municipal, provincial Measures Organization systems are challenged. and federal agencies and exercised emergency response • Additional diesel generators organizations. A special thanks plans, Intrepid also gave that provide necessary back-up to our Lepreau Warden service, us an opportunity to work power in the event of a station Fundy Shores School, evacuees together with the Province blackout. from all communities in the of New Brunswick to test our 20 km radius of the Station, collaborative effectiveness in By taking an active role in your and all government and non- responding to and managing community, you are helping to government response partners. a highly unlikely nuclear build a culture of preparedness emergency. This rehearsal will in New Brunswick. Everyone has certainly help us in other times a role to play in being prepared of emergency such as major for an emergency. 10 CLIMATE CHANGE

Did you know? PLNGS plays an essential role in The output of PLNGS is combined with the ensuring that 75 per cent of New Brunswick’s Government of New Brunswick’s Renewable electricity demand is met by non-emitting or Portfolio Standard to enable NB Power to renewable energy sources by year 2020. achieve this goal.

SAFETY

At NB Power and PLNGS, safety is everyone’s PLNGS has a goal of zero industrial safety events responsibility. It is fundamental to our success and and full compliance with environmental safety essential to achieving our long-term business goals. criteria. We also set improvement targets for A strong safety culture and healthy workplace radiological safety to ensure that our behaviour in environment are at the heart of everything we this aspect of work is linked to our current Station do - our employees reached over 4.8 million business improvement program. In striving for person-hours without a lost-time accident. excellence, legal requirements are considered the This is an example of our commitment to safety. minimum standard. We adopt proven and effective best-in-class practices to provide enhanced Safe work behaviour reflects a risk minimization safeguards vital to achieving sustainable, top- philosophy that applies to the public, visitors, quartile performance. contractors and our employees. Effective hazard management systems are embedded into our The participation of all employees in identifying business planning and work activities. and effectively resolving safety issues is crucial to successfully upholding health and safety in the workplace. OUTAGE

A planned One of the big jobs completed during the outage maintenance was the replacement of two of the three low outage started pressure turbine rotors with new ones from on April 1, 2016. Siemens, the equipment manufacturer. You may As a base load recall the transportation of the new rotors via plant for the massive tractor-trailers in early 2014. province, PLNGS plays a pivotal The rotors, which weigh about 110 metric tonnes role in providing each, were prepared for installation through safe, reliable and inspections and cleaning with a high pressure emission-free system. In parallel with the installations, technical electricity to inspections, along with maintenance and cleaning, our customers. were completed on the turbine system. The job was Our scheduled maintenance outages are a key completed safely and with quality. investment in ensuring the long-term ability to dependably meet the energy needs of Another major job completed during the outage New Brunswickers. was the installation and commissioning of a new breaker in the Point Lepreau switchyard. This The outage was timed to coincide with seasonal addition improves electrical grid reliability and increases in water flows in the hydro system is projected to save NB Power approximately and with lower seasonal electricity demand to $3 million annually in operating costs. help offset the temporary loss of our Station’s contribution to provincial energy needs. Other important maintenance and inspections were completed during the outage, on both the nuclear During the outage there were more than 13,000 and conventional parts of the plant. activities performed. Over 600 contractors and tradespeople from New Brunswick and beyond came to the Station to work alongside our employees. 11 PLNGS - POWER REACTOR OPERATING LICENCE RENEWAL (PROL)

NB Power is seeking a five-year Commission (CNSC) will hear measures are in place, requirements power reactor operating licence from NB Power and CNSC staff. are met and the appropriate renewal for the Point Lepreau safety systems are in place to Nuclear Generating Station Part two of the public hearings protect the staff, the public and (PLNGS). The current PROL is will be scheduled to take place in the environment. As we get closer for the period of June 2012 to Saint John in early Spring 2017. to the Point Lepreau licence June 2017. This licensing process provides renewal hearings, information will many opportunities for public be available on the The first of the public hearings participation. Members of the NB Power website for NB Power is scheduled for public can observe the hearings or www.nbpower.com January 26, 2017 in Ottawa, . formally participate as intervenors. as well as on the During this part of the hearing, The CNSC assesses the licence CNSC website the Canadian Nuclear Safety application to ensure safety www.nuclear safety.gc.ca/eng/

2015 REGULATORY OVERSIGHT REPORT FOR CANADIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Each year, the CNSC produces a measures required to implement On August 17-18, 2016, employees report on the safety performance ’s international obligations from the PLNGS will participate of Canada’s nuclear power plants. on the peaceful use of nuclear in a public CNSC meeting in The report assesses how well plant energy. Ottawa where the 2015 Regulatory operators are meeting regulatory Oversight Report for Canadian requirements and program “This is a good process to review, Nuclear Power Plants will be expectations in areas such as document and openly report discussed. The public meeting will human performance, radiation the status of the safety of power be webcasted live on the CNSC and environmental protection, reactors in Canada,” says Brett website at nuclearsafety.gc.ca. and emergency management and Plummer, Site Vice President and fire protection. The 2015 report Chief Nuclear Officer. “This is one “We are pleased with this report highlights the nuclear power of many strengths of the Canadian from our regulator,” said Mr. industry’s safety performance Nuclear regulatory process”. Plummer. “We are also pleased with during 2015 and details the progress The draft report was released in our fully satisfactory rating of our of compliance and regulatory issues June 2016 and it summarizes CNSC Conventional Health and Safety up to April 2016. staff’s assessment of how well performance as this is a reflection of licensees are meeting regulatory the hard work from our employees Through site inspections, reviews safety requirements. The Station’s and the strong emphasis NB Power and assessments, CNSC staff overall CNSC assessment was places on industrial and workplace concluded that PLNGS operated satisfactory, with the highest rating safety culture throughout the safely. Evaluation of all findings for of Fully Satisfactory declared for organization.” the safety and control areas show the area of Conventional Health that, overall, Nuclear Power Plant and Safety. The integrated plant The Point Lepreau Nuclear licensees made adequate provisions rating positioned the Station Generating Station continues to for the protection of the health, at the industry average level of operate safely and provides a major safety and security of persons performance addressed by the contribution to power generation in and the environment from the use CNSC for 2015. the province of New Brunswick. of nuclear energy, and took the

CONTACT US

Kathleen Duguay Manager, Community Affairs and Nuclear Regulatory Protocol Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station [email protected] (506) 659-6433 www.nbpower.com