Toronto, Canada – Kinectrics is proud to be one of the key contributors to the success of Unit 2’s return to service this month, part of Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Darlington Refurbishment Project; this comes 10 years after originally being awarded the contract to provide Owner’s Support Services (OSS) to the refurbishment.
Kinectrics’ Nuclear Safety & Licensing (NS&L) team supported multiple operational support and safety case activities including defueling, Emergency Service Water isolation, and Unit 2 islanding. Our Risk Management team completed Level 1 and Level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessments and conducted reliability assessments in support of plant modifications.
Kinectrics worked collaboratively with OPG to conduct safety analyses and assessments documenting the safety case for Unit 2 return to service and providing regulatory support for CNSC approval of the safety case. Most recently, NS&L support for the commissioning activities and power ascension for Darlington Unit 2 involved multiple analysts working in close collaboration with the Darlington refurbishment team. OPG has noted the role of the great planning and detailed and execution of our many F&P (Fuel & Physics) Projects over the past two years in ensuring that the power evolutions were executed successfully.
Kinectrics’ support to refurbishment also included a proactive and comprehensive study to identify design changes that would present Safety Improvement Opportunities (SIOs) which formed the basis for several design modifications. Kinectrics’ support for these SIOs included benefit/cost assessments, support for the Environmental Assessment and contributing to OPG submissions to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
From the original OSS contract in 2010, Kinectrics grew our capabilities along with the formation of the OPG Site Services group. At its peak, over 120 staff were co-located onsite at the Darlington Energy Complex, with the Design Engineering & Sites (DES) team downtown executing over $40M annually in engineering & site services, owner’s engineering, retube & feeder replacement oversight, feasibility studies, condition assessments, construction management, field engineering, quality engineering, and senior consultation. These projects involved multidisciplined effort from design and field engineering, stress analysis, human factors, and First of a Kind (FOAK) challenges to overcome within the industry. OPG has recognized Kinectrics’ significant contributions to the engineering deliverables and profiled our collaborative successes at OPG Townhalls, Cornerstone Meetings and in their ePulse newsletter.
Kinectrics’ President and CEO, David Harris, commented “we are proud to have supported Darlington Unit 2 to this return-to-service milestone, bringing over 30 years of clean, reliable and affordable power to Ontario. We are also committed to continue our support through the successful completion of Refurbishment for Units 3, 1, and 4.”
About Kinectrics
Kinectrics is the category leader in providing lifecycle management services for the electricity industry. Trusted by clients worldwide, our expertise in engineering, testing, inspection, and certification is backed by our independent laboratory and testing facilities, a diverse fleet of field inspection equipment and an award-winning team of over 1,100 engineers and technicalexperts. From initial design and type testing to operational deployment and maintenance services, Kinectrics collaborates closely with customers to ensure that utility assets perform safely, reliably and efficiently throughout their entire lifecycle. Learn more at www.kinectrics.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
