Darlington NGS - Unit 1 Return to Service: Request for CNSC Consent to Remove the Regulatory Hold Point for Prior To Fuel Load

Regulatory Operations Branch

April 29, 2024

Mr. Allan Grace
Senior Vice President, Nuclear
Ontario Power Generation Inc.
1 Holt Road South, P.O. Box 4000
Bowmanville, ON L1C 3Z8

Mr. Boris Vulanovic
Senior Vice President, Refurbishment
Ontario Power Generation Inc.
1855 Energy Drive, 3C14
Courtice, ON L1E 0E7

SUBJECT: Darlington NGS - Unit 1 Return to Service: Request for CNSC Consent to Remove the Regulatory Hold Point for Prior To Fuel Load

Dear Mr. Grace and Mr. Vulanovic:

The purpose of this letter is to respond to Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) submission [1], which requests removal of Regulatory Hold Point-1 (RHP-1), allowing fuel to be loaded in the refurbished Darlington Unit 1 reactor core, and provides the associated Completion Assurance Document.

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) staff’s assessment [2] of OPG’s submission [1], as well as all supporting documentation, concluded that OPG has met all the pre-requisites established by the Commission to remove RHP-1. Therefore, as the person authorized by the Commission and pursuant to Licence Condition 15.4 of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station (DNGS) Power Reactor Operating Licence 13.03/2025, consent to remove RHP-1 is hereby granted and fuel may now be loaded into the Unit 1 core.

Yours sincerely,

Karen Owen-Whitred
Acting Executive Vice-President and
Chief Regulatory Operations Officer
Regulatory Operations Branch

c.c: A. Viktorov, A. Mathai, M. Rickard, C. Loreti, E. Delgado, A. El-Merhi, A. Oussoren, A. Josua Tanoko, C. Brown, C. Chan, Darlington Site Office

References:

1. OPG Letter, A. Grace and B. Vulanovic to K. Owen-Whitred, “Darlington NGS Refurbishment: Unit 1 Return to Service: Request for CNSC Consent Prior to Fuel Load (RHP1)”, dated April 25, 2024
2. CNSC staff document entitled: “Request by Ontario Power Generation Inc. to Remove Regulatory Hold Point for Prior To Fuel Load for Unit 1”, dated April 28, 2024