Bruce Power Protocol with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for Bruce Power Project 2030

This Protocol is Between Bruce Power and The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

280 Slater Street, P.O. Box 1046, Station “B”, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5S9, Canada.

1. Preamble

This Project 2030 protocol is a joint document that is endorsed by both CNSC and Bruce Power, which outlines the administrative framework and steps to facilitate the preparation and review of the submissions related to reactor power recovery.

Nothing in this Protocol fetters the powers, duties, or discretion of CNSC designated officers, CNSC inspectors or the Commission respecting regulatory decisions or taking regulatory action related to Bruce Power’s request for reactor power recovery. It is strictly administrative in nature and is not legally enforceable. This protocol does not change in any way any applicable laws or regulations, any other application requirements or the hearing process as set out by the CNSC Rules of Procedure^{Footnote 1}.

2. Purpose

Bruce Power’s mission statement for Project 2030 is to identify, recommend, and implement safe and cost-effective power recovery opportunities to achieve 7000MWe (net, peak) from the Bruce Power site by the early 2030s. Bruce Power plans to achieve this by recovering power from post-Major Component Replacement (MCR) units starting as early as the mid-2020s.

The project will involve the installation of new components that incorporate design and nuclear safety improvements to recover and improve safety margins and will be enabled by other initiatives at Bruce Power such as core conversion, refurbishment of Units 1 and 2, MCR, and the Lifetime Asset Management Plan (LAMP).

Bruce Power intends to submit a request in accordance with the Power Reactor Operating Licence (PROL) 18.02/2028 and its associated Licence Conditions Handbook (LCH), LCH-PR 18.02/2028 R003, for Commission approval to recover the original reactor, channel and bundle power limits at Bruce A and Bruce B.

The purpose of this protocol is to outline an administrative framework on how Bruce Power and the CNSC will work on Project 2030 and includes the steps for the preparation and review of the required submissions. It aims to provide efficient management for the regulatory review of information submitted by Bruce Power to CNSC staff, which will in turn support the Commission decision. The defined success path is based upon a mutual understanding of objectives, clear expectations for the involved parties, and a framework for communication and escalation in order to bring resolution to issues should they arise.

This protocol should be followed to allow for open and transparent processes that do not fetter the discretion of the Commission.

3. Guiding Principles for Regulatory Review

CNSC staff will perform a technical assessment of Bruce Power’s submission packages and will provide its findings, as necessary, to Bruce Power for disposition or resolution. Provision of these findings to Bruce Power will constitute the CNSC response noted in the high-level project schedule found in Appendix C. The following guiding principles will be followed to ensure efficient regulatory review of the submissions.

3.1 This protocol will come into effect on the date of the last signature to this protocol. It will terminate once all regulatory interactions related to the project are complete or on the expiry of 30 days written notice by either party of their intention to terminate.

3.2 In executing the protocol, CNSC staff will apply existing regulatory requirements forming the facility-specific licensing basis. The execution of this protocol will not compromise the CNSC’s independence and ability to enforce the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA), associated regulations, and the PROL and its associated LCH.

3.3 The protocol will be administered using a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) approach. This means that there will be a SPOC assigned for each party who will be the primary point of contact for that party. The Bruce Power and CNSC SPOCs will communicate or will be copied on all communication, including formal and informal correspondence, between the parties. If the SPOC is not copied, the correspondence will be brought to the attention of the SPOC as soon as practicable.

3.4 Information exchanged both formally and informally will reflect the position of the party (CNSC or Bruce Power), and not an individual. Informal communication consists of email exchanges.

3.5 Formal correspondence is to be used for official regulatory requests, commitments or positions. This includes key submissions where Bruce Power is electing to request CNSC staff agreement to provide a regulatory position. Formal correspondence is a letter written on the organization’s letterhead and will be addressed per existing communication processes (for the CNSC: to the Bruce Regulatory Program Director and for Bruce Power: to the Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs); the letter shall be copied to the SPOCs. Formal commitments will be captured by Bruce Power in an action tracking system.

3.6 Informal correspondence (email) is to be used to communicate and clarify technical points. When comments and dispositions of deliverables are provided informally, they are compiled in a standardized template to ensure one comprehensive set per deliverable, with their resolution tracked by the CNSC SPOC.

4. Date of Completion of Activities and Description of Activities

Subject to this protocol, Bruce Power and CNSC staff shall perform and complete the activities that are described in Appendix C, which identifies a list of deliverables and timeline of technical scope and regulatory response at a high level, within the timeframes indicated. Bruce Power and CNSC SPOCs shall perform an annual review of Appendix C and revise the protocol as required.

A separate detailed project schedule will be informally managed by Bruce Power and provided to the CNSC.

The ability of CNSC staff to complete the reviews within the allocated time is dependent on the timely submission and quality of the deliverables submitted by Bruce Power. The following principles should be applied to ensure a timely review of the submitted information:

4.1 Both CNSC and Bruce Power will make best efforts to not allow delays due to administrative issues.

4.2 Each party will informally notify the other as soon as practicable of advances or delays to the detailed project schedule. Ideally, the notification should be provided if there is a delay of greater than 15 days for each deliverable. If the detailed project schedule needs to be modified, it will require of the SPOCs of both parties. If more than two delays occur for a specific deliverable, the issue resolution process (Appendix A) should be used to gain commitment on the deliverable timeline.

4.2 Any disputes shall preferably be resolved at the working level, and if that is not possible, by escalation per Appendix A as needed.

5. Regulatory Review and Response

As a good practice, but depending on the specifics of the submission, the parties will meet to walkthrough the material and facilitate mutual understanding. The meeting may be prior to the submission or within one month after the submission. The need and timing of a meeting will be determined by the Bruce Power and CNSC SPOCs.

When an informal review and comment process is used, the SPOCs for Bruce Power and the CNSC will agree on the timing of exchange. In general,

• Within three (3) weeks of receiving a submission by Bruce Power, CNSC staff will perform a conformity review, which includes a completeness check and technical sufficiency review, to identify obvious deficiencies and communicate such problems to Bruce Power.
• The initial CNSC staff response will be targeted within 2 months of a submission package which is deemed complete. Bruce Power will target dispositions of CNSC staff comments and questions within an additional 3 months. CNSC staff will complete the review of the submission package 2 months following Bruce Power’s dispositions.
• If additional rounds of review and comment are required, or if CNSC and/or Bruce Power cannot meet the submission timelines, the CNSC/Bruce Power SPOCs will immediately inform their counterparts on the revised schedule and arrange focused meetings as required.

6. Meeting Schedule

Monthly meetings will be held between CNSC and Bruce Power staff to discuss the status of the project (such as review progress, schedule changes, etc.). At a minimum, the meeting will involve the CNSC and Bruce Power SPOCs.

In addition, quarterly meetings to review progress will be held with other interested directorates within the CNSC and Bruce Power. After the quarterly meeting, the Bruce Power SPOC, with assistance from the Project team, will produce a brief dashboard-style report. The report will demonstrate progress of the deliverables in Appendix C and describe items of concern or at risk of not being completed. The reports will be submitted on a quarterly basis by email to the protocol's Representative Managers and signatories while this protocol remains in effect.

Additional meetings may be called for urgent matters, as required.

7. Representatives

7.1 For the purposes of this protocol, the CNSC shall be represented by the Senior Regulatory Program Officer reporting to the Director of the Bruce Regulatory Program, who will be the CNSC’s SPOC.

7.2 For the purposes of the Protocol, Bruce Power shall be represented the Senior Strategist, Isotopes and Site Energy Development reporting to the Senior Director of the Regulatory Affairs, who will be Bruce Power’s SPOC.

A complete list of the signatories, representative managers and SPOCs is provided in Table 1 below. Either party may, by formal correspondence, change any of its representatives listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Representatives of Bruce Power and the CNSC

Signatories:

CNSC: Executive Vice-President & Chief Regulatory Operations Officer and Vice-President & Chief Science Officer

Bruce Power: Chief Engineer and Senior Vice President, Engineering and Executive Vice-President, Operational Services & Chief Development Officer

Representative Managers:

CNSC: Bruce Regulatory Program Director, Bruce Regulatory Program Division

Bruce Power: Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs

SPOC:

CNSC: Senior Regulatory Program Officer, Bruce Regulatory Program Division

Bruce Power: Senior Strategist, Isotopes and Site Energy Development

The responsibilities of representatives at each working level and the meeting frequencies are summarized in Appendix B of this document.

8. Future Revisions

8.1 Any proposed change to the scope of the activities contained in Appendix C shall be discussed by the SPOCs and/or other representatives listed in Table 1, and shall be authorized by means of formal correspondence.

8.2 Amendments to this protocol shall be approved by the signatories listed in Table 1 and done through formal correspondence. The changes shall be documented in the “Summary of Changes” section of this document.

Signed by:

CNSC

Ramzi Jammal, Executive Vice-President and Chief Regulatory Operations Officer

Peter Elder, Vice-President and Chief Science Officer

Bruce Power

Gary Newman, Chief Engineer and Senior Vice President, Engineering

James Scongack, Executive Vice-President, Operational Services & Chief Development Officer

Michael Rinker, Vice President, Regulatory, Environment & Sustainability

Appendix A – Issue Resolution Process

CNSC Staff will review the deliverables presented by Bruce Power to determine whether there are issues that prevent CNSC staff from to issuing a positive position on the submitted packages. Disagreements during the review will require resolution in line with the needs of the project and a review and issue resolution mechanism will be used to facilitate timely completion.

Nothing in this issue resolution process seeks to bind, or has the effect of binding, the Commission, designated officers or inspectors.

Step 1: Identification of the Issue and Resolution at the Working Level

1. Periodic Bruce Power and CNSC meetings will be held to review progress on the key activities and highlight any potential major issues. Minimum attendance at these review meetings will be the SPOCs for the CNSC and Bruce Power.
2. It is the intention of both parties to resolve issues at this level.
3. If an issue cannot be resolved at this level, it will be documented (typically, a brief factual summary of the issue and a paragraph representing the view of each organization) within one week of the failure to resolve the issue, and forwarded to the Representative Managers (Step 2).

Step 2: Resolution at the Representative Manager Level

1. A Step 1 issue, once documented, will be provided to the CNSC Director of the Bruce Power Regulatory Program Division and Bruce Power Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs. A meeting will be called, normally within 7 business days, to resolve the issue, and the resolution documented.
2. Issues which cannot be resolved at this level will be referred to the Executive Level (Step 3) within two weeks, supported by the original or revised documentation from Step 1 and any additional documentation from Step 2.

Step 3: Resolution at the Executive Level

1. A Step 2 issue with documentation will be sent to the CNSC Director General, Directorate of Power Reactor Regulation and Bruce Power Vice President, Regulatory, Environment & Sustainability. A meeting will be called, normally within 10 business days, to resolve the issue with the aid of the other signatories to the Protocol and the resolution documented.

In exceptional circumstances, the signatories (see Section 7) to the protocol will resolve issues that remain outstanding from Step 3.

Appendix B – Responsibilities of representatives at each working level and meeting frequencies

SPOC Working Level:

Review schedule status and identify technical issues for resolution.

1. Meetings with Work Group Chairs (for each submitted package)
2. Issue resolutions
3. Progress updates

Frequency: At minimum on a monthly basis or more frequently as required. Progress updates on a quarterly basis.

Representative: Bruce Power and CNSC SPOC

Manager Level:

Unresolved issues at the working level will be provided to the managers for resolution.

Frequency: As issues are raised.

Representative: Bruce Power – Senior Director; CNSC – Director

Executive Level:

Any unresolved issues at the Manager level will be managed as needed.

Frequency: As needed. A meeting will be called, normally within 30 days to resolve the issue, and the resolution documented.

Representatives: Bruce Power and CNSC signatories.

Appendix C – Technical Scope and Regulatory Response

The project Gantt chart will be managed between Bruce Power and CNSC SPOC; it provides a high-level list of deliverables and timelines, which includes the technical scope and regulatory response for Project 2030.