An International Insurance Survey at Darlington Nuclear Generation Station

An International Insurance Survey at Darlington Nuclear Generation Station (NGS), operating CANDU-850 nuclear reactors, was held on 18-20 November 2014. The representatives of National Nuclear Insurance Pools and experts from NIAC, NRI, RANI, EMANI, ELINI, Marsh Canada participated in the Survey. RANI was represented by Nikitin Anatoly Alekseevich, Deputy Technical Director.

The specialists were mainly aimed :

• To assess insurance risks of Darlington NGS in order to arrange nuclear third party and MD insurance cover

• To analyze operating safety level of the equipment and systems at NGS

• To reveal the dynamics of reducing insurance risks resulting from the implementation of the recommendations of the previous Survey

• To check availability of spare parts for the main equipment at NGS

• To review current operating process and fire safety level at NGS

• To discuss the plan of further improvement of the safety level at Darlington Nuclear Generation Station in response to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan

At the meetings with management and technical specialists of the site and its operating organization - generating company OPG (Ontario Power Generation - the owner of Darlington NGS) the experts focused on the following:

• Current operating activity at the site

• Opportunities and further development of Darlington Nuclear Generation Station

• Scheduled modernization process, measures to improve safety operating level of NGS in response to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan

The inspectors examined the site, assessed the current safety operating level of reactors, analyzed  operating process and professional skills of the personnel of NGS, checked fire protection level of the equipment and facilities, interviewed technical specialists of NGS within the framework of the Survey Program.

Following the results of the inspection the head of the Survey Mr.Jacques Plourde, NIAC, presented to the leaders of OPG and Darlington NGS preliminary observations and recommendations to reduce potential insurance risk.

For your information:

Darlington Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in the Municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, 70 km east of Toronto in the south part of Canada. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a metropolitan area in Canada with a population of 5 715 000. Pickering Nuclear Generating Station (6 operating units of CANDU-500) and Bruce Nuclear Generating Station (8 units of CANDU-750) are also located in the same province.

The Darlington station is a large nuclear facility and comprises 4 CANDU-850 nuclear reactors with heat output of 3116 MW. The Units were brought online in 1990, 1992, and in 1993, 1993 accordingly.

Installed on each Unit one turbo-generator has a capacity of turbines of 935 MW, 1800 rpm, with total electricity generating capacity of 1101 MVA, generator voltage 22 kV, 60 Hz, having a total output of 4x878=3512 MW (capacity net) when all units are online.