New Brunswick’s nuclear power plant expected to be off-line for weeks, official says

A representative for New Brunswick’s nuclear power plant says it’s expected to remain off-line for a few weeks as they make a repair.

The station’s community manager Kathleen Duguay says plant workers have located a heavy-water leak from a broken pipe known as an instrumentation line.

She says workers weren’t able to access the broken line until the plant cooled down — and even then they still needed to use special equipment such as a scissor lift.

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With the problem identified, Duguay says crews are working out a plan to fix the line at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.

The station was first taken off-line Sept. 11, the third shutdown this year.

NB Power, the public utility that operates the plant, says there is no risk to the public, employees or the environment.

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While the 43-year-old plant’s nuclear core was largely rebuilt some 14 years ago, many of its auxiliary components such as the instrumentation lines have been in place since it opened in the 1980s.

Earlier this year, the nuclear power facility was off-line from April to August for scheduled system checks and other maintenance.

Then, it was off-line for several days in early September for turbine system repairs.