October 8, 2024
The Empire Club of Canada Presents
Eric Chassard, Bruce Power’s New President & CEO, Lays Out His Vision for the Road Ahead
Chairperson: Jenna Donelson, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
The Honourable Lisa Raitt, P.C, Vice-Chair, Global Investment Banking, CIBC Capital Markets
Distinguished Guest Speaker
Eric Chassard, President & CEO, Bruce Power
Head Table Guests
Thomas Clochard, Executive Vice-President, Civil & Nuclear, Aecon
Marco Bolk, Global Practice Manager, Director of Construction, Burns & McDonnell
Welcome Address by Jenna Donelson, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Welcome to the Empire Club of Canada. I’m Jenna Donelson, and I have the pleasure of serving as chair of this historical organization, and your host for today’s event.
To formally begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathering on the Traditional and Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. I encourage you all to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.
Since 1903, the Empire Club has been helping build Canada, by being the place where Canada’s most influential voices come together, to address the critical issues of the day. More than 4,000 speakers have made the Empire Club their chosen forum for speeches, debates, discussions, and announcements that speak to the heart of public policy discussion and thinking, here in Canada.
I like to say that we do not have easy conversations here, we do not tackle trivial topics here. But we do it with a respect and open-mindedness that is, in its own way, distinctly Canadian. We do it by bringing together leaders, innovators, and thinkers, to tackle the challenges, and unlock the opportunities for our cities, our provinces, and our country. And I am proud to say that today is no exception.
You know, at the Empire Club, we’ve been discussing nuclear power for more than 60 years, and it’s remarkable to see the evolution of these conversations in our country. As you can imagine, our national discourse on the topic has varied greatly. It’s ranged from some of our most influential leaders speaking about defence issues, geopolitical issues, to leading scientists casting a vision for what nuclear will mean for Canada’s future. But as far back as the conversations at this podium go, there has always been one common thread, that nuclear offers an abundance of energy to meet our needs, and the economic promise that that holds. Today, we have another leader lending his voice to this important discussion. Eric Chassard is here with us, and he is delivering his first major speech, as president and CEO of Bruce Power. Thank you, Eric, for choosing our podium, to deliver your important message. And of course, we have Lisa Raitt with us, to go even deeper.
And today’s event comes at a pivotal moment. Ontario faces unprecedented growth in electricity demand, over the next few decades. Bruce Power will play a crucial role in meeting that demand, and helping make sure that our province has clean, reliable energy for the future. But Bruce Power generates more than electricity. They’re playing a leadership role in providing medical isotopes that will help combat cancer, and other diseases, something our scientists envisioned decades ago. Eric will share his vision for navigating the challenges ahead, and Bruce Power’s role in ensuring that Ontario can grow sustainably, create jobs, boost the economy, and maintain its position as a leader in clean energy.
But before we dive into all of that, as a nonprofit organization, I would like to recognize our sponsors, who generously support the Empire Club and make these events possible and complimentary for our online viewers. Thank you to our Lead Sponsors, Aecon and Burns & McDonnell. And thank you to our VIP Reception Sponsors, AtkinsRéalis, BWXT, LiUNA, the Society of United Professionals, and Westinghouse. And thank you, as well, to our Supporting Sponsors, BMO, Kinectrics, Nuclear Waste Management Organization, Ontario Building Trades, and Scotiabank. And thank you, as well, to our Lead Season Sponsors, Bruce Power, and Hydro One, and to our VIP Reception Season Sponsor, Waste Connections of Canada. And finally, thank you to our Print Media Partner, The Toronto Star.
If you have questions for our speakers, please scan the QR code that’s found on your program, or through the Q&A function, if you’re online. For those of you joining us online, if you require technical assistance, please contact our staff, using the chat function so you can get some help.
To begin today’s discussion, I am pleased to introduce Thomas Clochard, Executive Vice-President of Civil and Nuclear at Aecon. Thomas plays a key role in overseeing projects that are crucial for Ontario’s infrastructure, helping to lay the groundwork for our energy future. So, please join me in welcoming to the podium, Thomas Clochard.
Opening Remarks by Thomas Clochard, Executive Vice-President, Civil & Nuclear, Aecon
Good afternoon. And thank you, Jenna, for the introduction. Thank you to the Empire Club, for hosting what will be undoubtedly a very insightful discussion. I’m very honoured to be here introducing this event with Eric Chassard, President and CEO of Bruce Power, and Aecon is very pleased to be the Lead Sponsor of this event.
Let me briefly introduce Aecon, first. As a construction company, we are builders, and our 12,000 employees build what matters, to enable future generations to thrive. In particular, we are Canada’s leading nuclear constructor. We are the Lead Construction Partner of Bruce Power’s refurbishment program, for their six reactors. We are the Lead Construction Partner of OPG’s, for their Darlington refurbishment, as well as for the delivery of the first grid-scale small modular reactors at Darlington. We are also leading Canadian constructors in hydroelectric power, transmission and distribution, and grid-scale battery storage. In short, we are proud to be advancing the energy transition, and we are very fortunate to be doing so with Bruce Power. Bruce Power plays a crucial role in meeting the growing electricity demand, with the ongoing refurbishments on their site, as well as with the current preparations for the future new large-scale reactors, on the Bruce Power site.
The nuclear industry forms the backbone of Ontario’s energy mix, and Ontario will continue to advance its position as a world leader in nuclear power. The key to this, though, is to deliver large-scale, complex nuclear projects safely, to the required quality levels, on time and on budget. And that is what we are currently doing, and that’s what we’ll continue to do, in partnerships—and I just want to recognize the partnerships that we have, to achieve those levels of performance—with the local and Indigenous communities, with our construction and engineering partners, such as AtkinsRéalis, and Framatome, and of course, with our union partners, whose members are the ones who are doing the tough work of powering Ontario every day. I just want to recognize them.
Eric, for sure, will expand on his vision for the road ahead. He’s been at the helm of Bruce Power, as President and CEO, since June this year, after serving for five years as the company’s Executive Vice President for Projects and Engineering. Of course, this was a team effort, but the successful refurbishment of Unit 6 at Bruce Power, back online in 2023, on time and on budget, through the pandemic, owes everything to Eric’s exemplary and inspiring leadership. The unit was returned to service in 2023, and this was the first of six units being refurbished by a highly collaborative team, laser focused on performance and collective results.
Prior to moving to Canada, Eric was already a leading figure in the nuclear industry, globally, with an impressive track record for Hitachi Nuclear Europe. Eric ran a joint venture, in charge of the EPC delivery of the Wylfa Nuclear Power Plant, in the UK. And prior to that, Eric had an impressive career with Areva, now Orano, most recently serving as their Senior Executive Vice-President for Engineering and Projects, leading over 5,000 professionals all around the globe, for the most complex nuclear projects.
Everyone can read Eric’s CV online, so let me tell you something that’s not in his CV. His focus on performance is relentless. He constantly raises the bar, and challenges the teams to do better, every single day. And lastly, I would say he harnesses outside-the-box thinking and promotes innovation extremely efficiently. In other words, to power Ontario’s growth, Bruce Power could not be in better hands. So, Eric, welcome to the stage.
[VIDEO:]
Nuclear power is lighting the path to the future. A future where clean, reliable electricity meets rising energy needs. A future with a prosperous economy founded on job growth. A future where new medical isotopes triumph over disease. For decades, Bruce Power has provided clean, reliable energy to Ontario and cancer-fighting isotopes across the globe, and will continue to play a vital role in powering a clean economy for the next generation.
[END OF VIDEO]
Eric Chassard, President & CEO, Bruce Power
Good afternoon. Okay. Well, just to make sure you’re with me, I’m just going to start with a poll. So, if you agree with me, you just raise your hand, right? If you don’t, you just do, stand down. So, who in the room believes that nuclear energy can play a key piece, can be a key solution, to curb climate change in the future? Yeah. It’s pretty good.
So, you’ve all seen the last announcement, and so on. Everybody’s looking at clean, affordable, reliable, right, base-load type of energy. You’ve seen the last deals between Amazon and Talen, to restart Susquehanna, and a behind-the-meter type of deal. You’ve seen the deal, also, between Microsoft and Constellation. So, nuclear base load clean energy is at a premium, right?
Question two. Who believes that to have a full-time, growing economy, you need full-time power? Yeah. If you don’t, industries are leaving the country, right? And in fact, you’re seeing this in Germany, right? Emotional reaction, after Fukushima, March 11, 2011. What happened? Germany shut down their nuclear power plant, one of the best plants in the world. Before they were exporting up to 20 terawatt hours of energy electricity every year; now, they are importing up to 70, 80 terawatt hour, equivalent of nine large [Indiscernible], large reactor every year, just to sustain what they are doing, and they restarted coal-fired power plant, right? Which has increased their carbon footprint by 50—five-zero. So, if you want a sustainable full-time economy, well, you need full-time power.
So, what do we do, as Bruce Power? What is our piece in this? So, first, we’re going to discuss all our investments. But the best piece we have is, we have good friends, right? And I’m very pleased to see lots of friends in this room. Thomas was reminding me that, in fact, we had some tough time with Unit 6, right? What he’s forgetting is that we spend long days, long nights in my office, just struggling through the pandemic. It seems obvious now that we can work through COVID, and the pandemic, it was not, right? We had to reinvent everything, and that’s when you call friends. You call friends like Thomas, you call friends like Gary, you call friends like our friends in the unit. I saw Stirling, Stirling [Indiscernible] also is here, and so on. So, that’s our strengths, right? As a team, there is nothing we cannot overcome.
So, you saw in the slide a clean energy future, and you saw a lot of boots on the ground. So, I took over for my current shot, July 1st. In fact, I was already fully part of the strategy of the company. So, we are not going to change anything. Strategy is good, right? Our challenge, our challenge as a team is to deliver it. Safety, quality, on time, on budget, and very, very high performance of our operating units, increasing the capacity factor of our units. We are at 87, we are shooting for 95. That’s also the beauty of nuclear, right? It’s there when you need it. In fact, it’s always there. So, it’s very reliable. And we’re going to foster, and we’re going to be one of the best nuclear power plant, nuclear station in the world. And we are on the path for it, and I will get back to this.
The other piece that you saw is boots on the ground. It’s a very exciting time for nuclear, but it’s also always fragile, right? I was discussing March 11th, 2011, with Fukushima. If we have one big event, everybody remember the nuclear renaissance? Same type of vibe, right? That’s what we have at the end of the 2000, 2010. One event, everything went down. So, our relationship with the public, with the community, is always extremely important. We operate because they trust us to safely operate our plants, to safely deliver our projects. So, boots on the ground, because it’s a very complex, but also unforgiving, unforgiving industry. You make one small mistake, you’re done. So, it requires very strong leaders, and the reality nuclear, like in all industry, is in the field. You learn much more in 10 minutes of an informal discussion with workers, because they are the one doing the work, right? As Thomas said, that means three hours or four hours of PowerPoint, meeting in your office.
So, that’s why we are spending, and I’m pushing my leaders to spend so much time in operation, in construction and so on. The time we are spending in the field discussing with workers, removing all the hurdles they have, to do the work we’re all expecting to do, to power Ontario for the future. That’s our job, to help them to get to the tool, to help them to get rid of all the administrative burdens that we’ve been putting in front of them, or between them and the tools, during the years. So, what do we do? We provide one third of the electricity in Ontario. So, right now, with OPG, we have four units down. We are going to shut down our next unit in February 1st, 2025, Unit 4. And you see that the forecast from the IESO is that we will need to double the electricity production by 2050. And we want to play in this. And in fact, we’re already playing a big piece in this, by refurbishing our units. So, the energy demand, you see it, 154 to 245. You could even challenge that it’s underestimated. How many homes are we going to build? 1.5 million homes, to support Ontario growth. You need electricity for this, right? Do we want to play in data centres? Do we want to attract industries like EV batteries, or EV fabrication, and so on? If you want this, you need full-time power. You need clean power, right? No emission. And also, you need something affordable. So, this electricity demand, we believe it’s going to be 245 to 300 and so on. Anyway, it’s going to grow. And moreover, if we want to displace, if we want to remove the fossil-produced electricity, it’s going to grow even more.
And what about an opportunity to export electricity? If you look at the south of the border, all the neighbour states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and so on, they produce between 35 to 45 of their electricity with coal-fired plants. Well, we could help them to shut down these plants, right? And that would be additional revenue for Ontario. Everybody remember the shutdown of the coal-fired plants, in 2014? And being able, in fact, to improve the healthcare, right, the health of, in the GTA. While the restart of Bruce A provided 70% of this electricity, this clean, emission-free electricity, so that we were able to shut down the coal-fired plants in Toronto.
So, what are we doing? In fact, the next 10 years are going to be extremely busy. I could even say the next 25 years. Life extension. Usually, it’s highly understated, what we are doing in life extension. At Bruce Power, life extension means, if I do an analogy with your house, if you buy an house and you want to refurb it, you’re going to keep the wall, and strip down everything, right? That’s what we are doing. We are very fortunate. We have one of the best sites in the world in terms of seismic. Seismic is very, very low. So, we keep the walls, we keep the foundation, we cut the roof, and after, we replace everything. So, usually, when we discuss life extension, we just discuss main component replacement, all the pressure tubes, the calandria tubes, the steam generators, the feeders, and so on. Yeah, it’s a very important piece of it. What we don’t really see is all the rest of what we are doing. We’re replacing all the buried piping, all the electrical distribution, all the instrumentation and control, all the heaters, valve pumps, you name it, all the transformers, like everything.
So, we are already doing new build. The only piece we are not doing is concrete. But right now, and after all our refurb by 2033, not only we will have done, like, six type of new building, in mechanical, electrical, HVAC, but we will have a very skilled workforce, that is very used to doing it, right? In terms of productivity, and the ability to do it right, the first time, safely. Safety is always our overriding priority.
So, life extension, we’ve done one unit successfully, Unit 6. We are going to shut down Unit 4, in February first, and we are going to have two units that we are refurbishing, like redoing, during the next six years, up to 2031. And after, we’ll complete Unit 8, by 2033. And when you’re refurbishing your house, usually you improve it, right? Usually, you have a better bathroom, or these type of things. Well, for us, improving the bathroom is having more outputs. And the beauty of it is that, as we are refurbishing, and so on, we’ll be able to add output for each and every unit. And when we’re done, by 2033, we will have the equivalent of an additional large nuclear power plant on site. We will have an additional 700 electrical megawatts of clean, emission-free, affordable electricity on site, with the same footprint. In fact, that the cheapest clean electricity we can get.
And Bruce C. So, Bruce C, we are exploring the option—right now, we are doing the impact assessment. In fact, we are the guinea pig. The guinea pig of the new federal process for the impact assessment. We are trying to shrink the duration to do it. In fact, the Bruce site has been one of the most heavily studied sites ever, in the world. It’s been studied for 70 years—seven-zero—since 1954, believe it or not, right? Since Douglas Point. So, we know each and every [Indiscernible] by its nickname. So, I don’t know what else we’re going to understand from this.
Right, so that’s part of it. You will hear me a lot, and that’s what we are pushing with the federal government. We have good support from the province, also, to really remove the red tape, accelerate, remove all the administrative burden we have, so that we can increase our generation; we get faster to build this additional generation we need, for the energy transition. So, we are doing this impact assessment, trying to do it in three years. Lots of good discussion with Enercan, to stream down the process. And in parallel, we are doing a technology assessment. Our impact assessment is fully technology agnostic. We’ll be able to fit whatever we want for 44,800 electrical megawatts, right? So, we are looking at four large [Indiscernible]. What we are trying to do is to maximize power density. This site, as I said, is one of the best in the world. So, we want to maximize what we can get from it.
But at the same time, we want all the interested parties to have a say. So, we are going to discuss with all of you, all the supply chain, all our colleagues from the unions, our Indigenous communities, the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation, the Ontario Métis, the historic Métis. They are going to have a say in it. And we want more than them to have a say in it, we want to invent a new way to do large infrastructure projects in Canada. We want true Reconciliation type of investment in infrastructure. We want them to be part of it. And when I say part of it, it’s to have equity in it. We want them to have a direct, sustainable flow of revenue, for whatever we are going to build. So, more to come on this. But that’s part of the innovation. We need to innovate, to have really true Reconciliation, when we are doing large projects on their territory.
So, Unit 6, lots of workers. And I really want to thank our union partners. They’re really partners, between Mark, Stirling, LiUNA, and so on. And when we had to shut down Unit 6 because of COVID, it was the worst possible time for us. We had just defuelled the unit. We were done. We could not restart it. And we had these COVID things going. We had no clue. It seems easy now; it was not. Everybody was scared about it.
So, when you have this type of situation, what do you do? Well, you call friends, right? And the beauty of it is that when you have real friends, they come, they come with you. And I got some very good advice, leverage your joint health and safety committees. And they worked with us, to make sure that we were restarting safely but efficiently. Which means, we were one of the first infrastructure projects to be able to keep the trades busy, to keep them at work, during the pandemic, right? So, more than 11,000 workers, 2.4 million of hours, one of the best safety records in the industry, in the nuclear industry, lower than 0.3 all injury rates. So, a very, very safe project. And we are all very proud of this. Very high quality. Unit six has operated seamlessly, since its restart in September 2023, right? So, high, reliable, source of energy for Ontario. And also, when we were doing Unit 6, we’ve been able to deliver it under budget, and ahead of schedule. So, we’ve been able to give back $50 million to the rate payers of Ontario, for the first one, right? Despite all the pandemic and so on. So, big thank also to all our partners in construction and engineering. Again, it’s teamwork. You don’t achieve this by yourself, right? We are stronger when we are together, definitely.
So, setting a new standard in refurbishment. So, the specificity of Bruce Power is that we have a private sector industry. We bring private finances. Meaning, also, that we take some risks. Our contract with the IESO, we submit a fixed-price proposal 18 months before starting, and after, we own the risk, right? So, we have private finance, and we own the risk of the project execution. Also, part of what we have in our contract is that we have to improve. Each time we are doing the same thing, from one unit to another, we need to save, accelerate the schedule by 30%—three-zero—and save 15% of the cost, again and again. So, innovation is not a nice-to-have for us; it’s a must-have. And in fact, that makes this job extremely exciting.
So, what you see in the picture is the first time we are going to reassemble a reactor with an eight-axis robot that we developed with our partner, ATS. And that’s really paving the way for all what we need to do, also, for new build and the new nuclear projects. What’s helping us, also, it’s not only a question of productivity; it’s also a question of dose rate. One of the downside of the CANDU technology is that there is lots of carbon steel, meaning very high dose rates. And what we want, also, part of how we are improving, is by keeping the same workforce. It’s the same for all of us. Once you’ve done things one or twice, you’re much better at it. So, we want to keep the same colleagues, the same skilled trades that have been working with us through Unit 6, through Unit 3. But to be able for them to keep working, we need to manage their dose. We need to make sure they don’t dose out, because they would have to find a job in another industry, until they reset. So, these technologies allow them to operate these tools remotely, but that also gives them a new opportunity to learn new things, right? And that’s also the beauty of nuclear. I get back to this, but we are learning every day. I’ve been in nuclear all my career; I’m learning every day. That’s the beauty of this industry. So, innovation, innovation, not only in terms of tools, but also in our practices, in construction, in engineering, so that we can accelerate the schedule safely, quality right the first time. These tools allow us, also, to have unprecedented control of the quality of what we are doing, in terms of pressure tube, calandria tubes, and so on. So, big step change in the industry, and we’re going to use them for three, four, five, seven, and eight, for the next units we are going to refurb.
So, our economic footprint. So, 10 billion of economic activity, more than 22,000 direct jobs. For the folks who are crossing Kincardine, Port Elgin, and so on, you see lots of new companies having opened a structure there, with new employees. And also, because we have some work, right? We have a long-term commitment to the communities. And we want, in fact, the workers who are working on our project, but also on our units, to be part of the community, right? And after, we are going to discuss [Indiscernible], and so on. So, if you think about it, somebody joining Bruce Power today, somebody leaving school today, joining Bruce Power, can have its full career at Bruce Power. So, all the project operations, and so on, that’s what we are offering.
So, creating option for Ontario. So, Bruce C, as I discussed, fully technology agnostic. What we want is, as a private sector investor, we are bringing private investment, which is key in the energy transition. Before, when you were building nuclear, it was all government-managed; they were bringing all the funding, all the management, they were operating the units. What we are seeing across the world is that to accelerate this energy transition, it’s taking so much money that you need to attract private investment. The good news is that between the success of OPG and Bruce Power in refurbishment and your success, your success demonstrating that we can manage very large, complex projects safely, with the right quality, on time and on budget, has given us a good reputation. So, we are able to attract money. We are able to get support, in terms of debt, to support the financing of our project, right? That’s your success. That’s a big change for the nuclear industry, right? If you think about it, 10 years ago, clearly, that was not the same. Now, we have green bond. We’ve been—I see Kevin here; he’s been the first one in the nuclear industry to get a green bond, to support nuclear investment. So, the world is changing. So, clearly, we both see, we are going to attract, you know, private sector investment. We are looking at technology agnostic. Why? Because we want something we can build. Seems easy to say, right? But lots of folks have been failing on large new builds, in the last 15 years, and so on. And in fact, I was brought back from the US for Areva, to turn around the new build projects in Finland, in China, in France, but also some life extension, and so on. What I can share with you is that when you have a bad start, it’s very, very hard to recover. So, when you build a new build, the first full cause for failure is starting when design is not done. So, you’re not going to see this at Bruce Power. We are not going to start construction until design is done, done; that we have a full Safety Analysis Report, and that we have drawings available, issued for construction. And that all the parts we need, at least 80% are in the warehouses, right? So, we are going to discuss a lot of this. We are very serious about Bruce C, again, it’s an option. And we’ve been directed by the IESO, supporting the no-regret action to explore it. We are doing the impact assessment. But we are going to do our own bottom-up estimate, and we are very, very serious about risk management.
That’s the most exciting part. And that’s a piece where I’m so proud of it. And I can tell you, our employees and all our partners are so proud of it. So, that’s a step change, in cancer treatment. So, this new system has been installed in 2022, with our partners, so Kinectrics, Framatome, and the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation. It’s also a new way to involve Indigenous communities in our investment. They have an equity stake in this system. And so, they get revenue, they get a constant flow of revenue from their stake in this system. And [Indiscernible] means fighting disease together. And what we want is also, with the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation, is to build on this. When I said we want them to be part of new build, that’s really what we have in mind. To expand this equity partnership, so that they really have the benefits of what we are doing, in terms of investment on site.
What you’re seeing here is going to change your life—and I’m serious when I’m saying this. You’ve got two big innovation in cancer. You’ve got all the vaccines, development—so ability to avoid them, all what Moderna, Pfizers are doing—and this, using nuclear isotope to treat cancer. The beauty of our system is, before, you had to wait for an outage, a refuel outage—so every 18 months, 24 months, and so on—now, with our system, we can put whatever we want in the reactor, and remove it whenever we want. So, we can have the exact dose rate we want—that is, that the doctors want—to treat cancer. And the beauty of it, also, is that we can test whatever we want. There is a huge backlog of researchers, what they want to test. We are going to accelerate, in fact, this backlog, and they will be able to test more. What does this mean? When you test more, well, you find more. And we’re going to find good stuff.
So, what’s going to happen, if you look at the future, and the vision, is that cancer, most of the cancers, will be like flu. Most of the cancers will be like flu—that certainly is the best news you’re going to get today. Why? Because we will have vaccines to avoid them. And if we have them, we will have treatments coming to you very fast, just to get rid of it. And the beauty of these isotopes is that they really target the cell that has the disease. Meaning, you don’t have all the side effects, and the damages that you could have with chemo, you don’t get sick, and this type of thing. So, the patient has a much better life, also, through the treatment. It’s really a game changer; we are just at the beginning of it. So, we are producing Lutetium-177. The beauty of using commercial reactor, you could say, well, isotopes, they’ve always been produced by research reactor, right? But what they can do is just a drop of water, we can do a lake. In fact, we’re going to produce 400,000 doses this year. What this means is that it’s available, and it’s cheap, right? Before, if you wanted a dose of Lutetium-177, it was like $55,000 a dose—and you need 10 to 11; now, it’s going to be less than $2,000. That’s what we are doing with our partners, again, Kinectrics, Framatome, and the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation. We are so proud of it. With all our projects, when we were installing this, our people at Bruce Power, but also your people, are so proud of it, that it’s the only project I did not have to watch. It’s happening by itself. They are taking care of it. It’s amazing.
Let’s transition to the community. So, of course, we want to be good citizens, in our townships, but this partnership is really key—and I see Luke here, also in the room. When you bring 10,000 of transient workers in small rural communities, you think it’s easy? Well, not really, right? You need to find them a home, where they are going to live, you want very good conditions for them. And you don’t want to mess up the community, right? Just between us. So, that’s where the partnership is so important. And also, the relationship with our union partners is so important, that working together, we found solutions. So, you think you have a good solution, you start your project, and what happens? COVID hits. So, all the folks who are renting their basement, what do you think they are thinking? And then you need to start again, right? So, that’s why this relationship with the community welcoming, understanding what we are doing, and already embracing this new project is so important. Because you also need to support the infrastructures. So, that’s why, also, we want to be part, and we want to develop these communities, and making sure that the relationship with this nuclear power plant—it’s not always been the case, that they own it, that they are part of it, that they get the benefit of it, that they understand what we are doing and why we are doing this. So, very, very strong support from our communities. That’s why we are so excited about the future, right? I was discussing about the impact assessment, opening new sites for nuclear, tough, very difficult, right? We are talking 10 years, 12 years, maybe more. But when you have a good site, that has been operating for 70 years, with a very strong support of the communities, well, much easier, right? Because folks understand the benefits of it.
We are talking about jobs. We can build wind farms, solar farms, and so on. When you drive by, how many cars do you see there? Come to the nuclear, the Bruce Power site, or the OPG site; you see lots of cars, lots of very good jobs. Good jobs for 100 years—if you mean Bruce C, we are talking the next century of good jobs. If you have kids, time to join the nuclear industry, right? It’s super exciting. And moreover, as I said, you keep learning. That’s the beauty of this industry. You learn every day. And I’m not kidding about this. So, if you have kids who are curious, and we want to be part of this adventure, it’s really time to join.
That’s what we are doing with the community, too. We had a very low level of STEM education, so we created the Nuclear Innovation Institute. And so, not only that’s helping us to innovate, but we give back to the community, by giving access to the kids in the community to things that are only available in Toronto, or so on. So, they have access to all this math, and physics education; they can see firsthand all the innovations, the robots, the cool tools that we are developing, right? So, we are developing also lots of good internship and, so on. So, this relationship, this tight relationship with the community is really key for our future, to power Ontario, and also, part of the energy transition. The best advertise we can do, right, when we bring folks who are wondering about nuclear, and so on, we just leave them in the community. They are the best advocates for us.
So, the future is nuclear. I just want to leave you with one thought, before concluding, is—and share about my vacation. So, last summer, beginning of August, I was in France. And we had the Olympics; that was amazing. The best image for me of the Olympics, that I will remember, is the 400 relay main sprint. Who won this? Canada. How many of the four runners were in the individual final? Zero. And if you look at the other teams, well, they had a lot, right? But what you could tell, when they were warming up, is that they had lots of fun together. They showed up as a team, right? And they won. Teamwork always prevails, in all what we are doing. So, as one Canada, as one team here in this room, when we work together, we are unstoppable. Thank you.
Jenna Donelson
Thank you, Eric, for that really engaging presentation, and those remarks; for casting the vision of our future. I don’t think anyone in this room does not know today’s moderator. She has long been a leader in both the public and private sector. And if you know her, as many of us do, you’ll know she’s no stranger to tackling big issues herself. Please join me in welcoming to the stage, the Honourable Lisa Raitt.
The Honourable Lisa Raitt, P.C, Vice-Chair, Global Investment Banking, CIBC Capital Markets
Eric, bienvenue.
Eric Chassard
Merci.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
That’s it for my French, by the way; I’m not running for leader. Thank you for the laugh, that’s good—only the political folks got it. You covered everything. I really don’t know if I have any questions…
Eric Chassard
Really? Okay, so we can….
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
…but I may have a few. I may have a few. I just want to point out that we do have the ability to take your questions from the floor. And they can come forward to me, through your handy dandy iPad, and I’ll ask a few. So, I just want to start out by saying, you know, I have—because it’s not about me, but it is about me—I have a bit of a history, with respect to nuclear reactors. I was the minister in ’08, when they started the Point Lepreau refurbishment that went over budget, that went over time, as well. And I never thought I would hate wire brushes, as much as I ended up hating wire brushes—that’s an inside joke, for those who know.
Eric Chassard
Yeah.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
But what did you learn from that? You talked about how, you know, the nuclear renaissance is fragile, things can go wrong.
Eric Chassard
Yep.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
That brought a lot of attention to refurbishment. But you broke that hex. Because right now, refurbishment is looked at as the way to the future.
Eric Chassard
Well, we work it, also, thanks to Lepreau, right? And thanks to the failure before. So, the beauty of this industry is that we share everything…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…right? Because if one fails, everybody is failing. We saw this with Fukushima, and so on. If one has a big incident, we all have the impact of it. So, the beauty of this industry, like our partnership with OPG, is just amazing.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
We share everything every day, with what’s going on. So, we learned from Lepreau…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…we learned from the refurb of Unit 1 and 2 at Bruce Power; that did not go very well, either, right? And so, by learning as an industry, learning fast, we’re improving, right? So, and we could extrapolate this to a new build. Like, we need to learn from the past, from the last 15 years of new build, making sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes. And after, keep learning, right? Meaning, don’t keep changing design. Because we learn when we stabilize some things. So, refurb has been somehow stable. And so, that’s a benefit for us. There is always some tweaks, and so on. And guess what? Next time, we have a first time evolution and so on. Well, we’re struggling a little more, right? But when we stabilize the work, and also, the workforce and the training. So, the beauty of it, well, you always need somebody to go first. That’s what Lepreau did; I think they did pretty well. That was challenging, at the time.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
But the benefit for us is that they are sharing. And…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…we get the benefit of their lessons learned.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
So, on the topic of learning, you have worked in the UK, you’ve worked in France, obviously, you’ve worked in the United States. At one point, you had—well, over the term of your career, 6,500 people, in 13 countries. So, a pretty complex kind of world that you’re coming from. Not just the bad stuff, what are the good things that we can learn here in Canada, from your experiences in other countries?
Eric Chassard
Yes. The good things we’re doing in Canada—in fact, that’s this: we’re really working as a team.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
And that’s really amazing. We have a huge support from our government in Ontario; that’s also amazing, right? You don’t get this every day. When I was in Germany, they were not throwing stones at me, but close, right?
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah. Yeah.
Eric Chassard
So, this support is amazing. We need, also, we enjoy the stability. We could not do what we are doing—not only us, but OPG—without a very stable regulation, very stable government policy.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
We tend to forget this. But that’s really kind of the foundation, to be successful in nuclear. It’s a long-term industry. When you decide to invest more, if it’s private sector investment, you need the stability. After, there are things where we are not that good. If I talk nuclear, I would say areas for improvement. We are still very administrative, right? Lots of red tape, lots of administration.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah. Yeah.
Eric Chassard
The impact assessment, we’re working on it, but—we’re working on it, right? So, we could be much more nimble, in what we are doing. That’s our opportunity, right? To really get the change, and curb climate change. I wake up every day, to make an impact on this. That’s what I want to leave. I want to demonstrate that nuclear is not only emission free—we all know this—I want to demonstrate that it’s cheap…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…right? That it’s cheaper than gas, it’s cheaper than the other industry. And we can do this, right, by accelerating and innovating, like, what we are doing. But we need to get rid of as much administration as we can, to be able to accelerate, in fact, this development, and also the construction.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah. You mentioned about the importance of capital, raising capital. And I know it’s a challenge, it can be. There’s still a stigma in the world, a little bit, I think, about nuclear. How are you—you mentioned the green bond, which is a great step forward. But Canada was world-leading, in doing something like that. Give us a little bit of a flavour, of what you encounter from outside.
Eric Chassard
Yeah, so it’s been evolving. And we could look at the benchmark, and I think a good one is in the UK. When they started Hinkley Point, they had a contract, which is called cost for difference. So, you invest, and after…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Right.
Eric Chassard
…you secure your price of electricity.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yes.
Eric Chassard
But if you look at this, just the debt piece, what we call the [Indiscernible], so the cost of capital, is going to be one-third of the price of electricity, more than 150 pounds. And the ratepayer will have to pay this for the next 60 years. So, the cost of capital is going to have a huge impact for the next 60 years in the UK, for the ratepayer.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Right
Eric Chassard
Well, they invented—in fact, I was pushing some of this, when I was in the UK—but a better way to do it.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
And we could be inspired by this. That’s what they are doing at Sizewell C. Instead of doing this and to attract equity, so that you don’t have to use debt, but they are using what is called a regulated asset-based model. In fact, each time you invest $1 during your project, during construction, you get a return. You don’t have to wait to get a return, until the end of the project. Guess what? It’s reducing the impact on the price of electricity later. So, there are lots of ways of doing this. The best thing we have, the best asset we have, between OPG and us, is the success of our life extensions, the success of the refurb. In fact, it’s your success, right? Because again, you’re all part of this. Our success, our biggest asset we have, is that we need to preserve. And I keep saying this to my team, we are not done yet. We’ve done one; we still have five to go. OPG has Pickering to do, also. But that’s our biggest asset. If we demonstrate that we can deliver these very complex projects safely, with quality, on time and on budget, we won’t have difficulties to attract the capital.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Excellent. You mentioned in your speech talking about the community, the importance of the community. And you talk a lot about the trades. I mean, I saw you grab somebody’s hand, when you came in. You say that you call on your friends. You can tell that you have real, true relationships with the people who helped on the refurbishment, and were part of the team. If you were to go to a high school today, what advice would you give the students, in terms of career? What career path should they follow, knowing what you know, in the industry?
Eric Chassard
Yeah, I mean, the way the trades are structured in Canada is very unique. And they have great leaders. Honestly, it’s amazing. And I did not know that, when I joined. So, I just got to know them. And they are developing their people, their hiring, their training. They are taking care of them…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…when they have some challenges, and so on. So, the trade career, you make lots of very good money, and it’s very interesting. And if you have companies like Bruce Power, who are also allowing you to learn new tools like innovation, and so on, well, you’re not doing always the same thing, right? You keep learning, with the development of the industry. Engineering is also extremely interesting.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
We have amazing careers in engineering, if you’re curious, and you like, really, science and engineering, what we are doing is just amazing. Same thing what Gary is doing at AtkinsRéalis, what Jack is doing with Westinghouse, that’s really the time to join, honestly.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
Same thing in project management, in construction. We are inventing the future, in construction.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
So, lots of opportunities.
QUESTION & ANSWER
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Now that you’ve mentioned aspiring providers of technology, I do have a question for you, that came in from the audience. And it is: is CANDU technology, one of the options being considered for the construction of Bruce C?
Eric Chassard
Yeah, definitely. I mean, we would love to have a CANDU—well, we have eight. And honestly, we are spending so much time refurbishing them, and so on, they are like kids, right? So, we know them in and out. So, we would love to have a CANDU. But we need to make sure that it’s ready.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
And it’s not yet, right? So, that’s Gary’s challenge, with his team, to have this, to have this ready. But after, we will build what we can afford, and what is available. And again, we are very risk-adverse. So, if there are other technologies that are ready for the window that we will agree on with the government, with the IESO, why not? And we are very lucky, in Canada. We have two technologies that are Canadian, we have CANDU, and we have the AP1000.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. You mentioned, as well, when you were talking about the impact assessment. I’d have to ask about that. Now, in Canadian politics, when government wins, they change the Assessment Act; another government wins, they change the Assessment Act. And it continues in a cycle. We did it in 2012, they did it in 2018—you can blame me for anything you like; I’m no longer involved in politics. But that being said, is that something top of mind? Because it seems to me that you’re agnostic to political up and down.
Eric Chassard
Well, we are not, right?
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Okay.
Eric Chassard
We rely a lot on, on politics. Like, we rely right now on the Investment Tax Credit.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
If it goes away with a new federal government, that’s an issue. That’s an issue for all of us.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
And each time we have burdensome processes, that’s impacting us. It’s costly, right? It’s not only the time it’s taking. Like, just an impact assessment right now in Canada, you’re talking $80 million, for what?
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
As I said, I mean, 70 years of history on this site…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…we know the noise, we know our impact on water, and so on. So, that’s what we’re trying to do with Enercan right now, to really right-size the scope.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
But if I’m a little, if I’m a little bullish and blunt, in what I’m saying, why do we need the federal government in this? We could have this under the CNSC, like other countries. France just had [Indiscernible], which is the next site for a new build, assessed in one year.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
And they are managing, through their safety authorities. The CNSC, we have a very good relationship, we know how they’re working, we are used to work with them, and so on.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
So, we could streamline this type of process. Why not? I think that’s the boundaries we need to push, to really accelerate this energy transition, and to get the benefit of nuclear. Because guess what? If we’re not fast enough with nuclear, what’s going to happen? Well, we will build gas.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
And gas is there for 25 years, right? So, we miss our opportunity…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Okay.
Eric Chassard
…shame on us, honestly…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Okay.
Eric Chassard
…right?
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Okay. I’m not going to get into a fight between sectors. I just came from the gas conference this morning. So, I’m going to an energy storage conference this afternoon. So, I’m agnostic…
Eric Chassard
Okay.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
…on all of this stuff, is what I’m going to say, to buy me some time. Look, you talk very proudly about your involvement with both community, and Indigenous. Part of the impact assessment is going to be about talking to the community, and the Indigenous groups, about Bruce C. How do you feel you’re positioned for that discussion?
Eric Chassard
We’re going to take our time. That’s what I found, not only in Canada, but all the countries I’ve worked on, is communication, communication, communication.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
We are very honest about what we’re doing; we have nothing to hide. So, we are just going to take the time to discuss. Each time we are doing a project—and that’s been the recipe for success for our refurb—we have a very slow, very thorough, very detailed preparation, so that we have a very fast execution.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
So, we want to clear everything. But again, it’s all, it’s all people who have an interest, or who have something to say about the project, we are going to involve them, and discuss with them. We have an advisory board already set up…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Right.
Eric Chassard
…with all these people, just to make sure that they have a say. During the impact assessment, during the technology evaluation, we are going to get their input. And not only we won’t come to them—which I’ve seen a lot, in other countries—once we are done, we just want to sell what we have.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
They’re going to be part of developing the solution…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
…right? We’re coming with a need, and we are going to develop the solution together.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
You started off with two polls. I have to do a poll right now, if you don’t mind.
Eric Chassard
Yeah.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
I’m going to ask, how many of you have ever visited the Bruce Power Information Centre? Hey, that’s pretty good.
Eric Chassard
Pretty good, yeah.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
That’s pretty good. And they’re not all from AtkinsRéalis, and they’re not all from Westinghouse—there’s a lot of you here today. But the reality is that you would invite people to come up to see that…
Eric Chassard
Yeah, of course.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
…so you can see it in person.
Eric Chassard
And we are even doing some bus tours…
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Bon.
Eric Chassard
…during summer. So, you take a bus, and you go around the site, and so on.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Yeah.
Eric Chassard
It’s open. You just show up, and you’re on.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
So, knowing that we are in election season, perhaps—federally, provincially, whatever—what would be the one ask you would ask people in the room to carry, when a politician who’s aspiring to be the local representative knocks on the door and says, what’s important to you? What would you like for them to say?
Eric Chassard
I think it’s stability, stability, right? When we—it’s a long-term industry. So, when we decide to invest, I mean, you’ve seen it. We are discussing 6 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. When you make your decision to invest, you need stability. Because if it keeps changing, like, the worst you can get on project, or this type of thing is stop and go. In fact, for folks who remember, that was one of the root cause for the overrun at OPG Darlington, right, back then. So, we really need to avoid this and get something stable, whatever it is. After, we really need politicians to embrace the simplification, right? To reduce the red tape, to reduce the administrative burden, and so on. Because it’s costly, it’s taking time. And we don’t have time, right? If we’re all serious about curbing, climate change, and the energy transition, we need to make it simpler, right? We’ve got lots of folks spending lots of energy on things that don’t really add value. So, we really need to embrace this simplification.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Well, thank you very much, for choosing the Empire Club for your first speech. Thank you for letting me ask you a few questions, and I’m sure the audience wants to thank you for all your words today.
Eric Chassard
Thank you.
The Hon. Lisa Raitt
Merci beaucoup.
Jenna Donelson
Thank you, Eric. And thank you, Lisa. I’m going to invite you to take your seat, too, so you don’t have to sit up there by yourself. Thank you. I think we’re all walking away from this a little more informed, which we appreciate—not to mention, a little bit more stylish, so thank you for these socks. And I just want to also say thank you to both of you, for continuing to do your part to build Ontario’s future, in your own respective ways. I’m now pleased to introduce Marco Bolk, Global Practice Manager and Director of Construction from Burns & McDonnell, to share some appreciation remarks with me. Please join me in welcoming him to the stage.
Note of Appreciation by Marco Bolk, Global Practice Manager, Director of Construction, Burns & McDonnell
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Marco Bolk; it’s my privilege to represent Burns & McDonnell today, as the Global Practice Manager, and Director of Construction. Thank you all for being here today, and for your active participation in this important discussion. As we conclude, I hope you found Eric Chassard’s presentation, “Boots on the Ground, to Power Ontario’s Growth,” both enlightening and inspiring. His vision for the future of energy in our province is not only timely, but essential, as we face challenges and opportunities ahead. And Eric, this isn’t in my notes, but I’ve got five kids; to power them towards nuclear industry is very important for me, as a father of five kids. So, thank you for that. I’ll take that home.
Eric’s leadership, guys, at Bruce Power, particularly in the successful refurbishment of Unit 6, serves as a remarkable example of how strategic planning and collaboration can lead to significant achievements. This project is a crucial milestone in Bruce Power’s multi-billion-dollar Life Extension Program, which, as Eric pointed out, is Canada’s largest private clean energy sector project. It emphasizes our collective responsibility to ensure a sustainable energy future, for Ontario and beyond.
I would like to take a moment to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Empire Club of Canada, for hosting us today. Your commitment to fostering dialogue around critical issues is invaluable for our community. Please join me in a round of applause. Additionally, I want to thank our esteemed moderator, the Honourable Lisa Raitt, whose expertise and insights have greatly enriched our discussions. Lisa’s ability to guide conversations around complex topics keeps us focused on the key issues that matter most in our communities. A special thank you goes out to Burns & McDonnell, and Aecon, for being the Lead Sponsors of this event. Our dedication to innovation and excellence aligns perfectly with the themes that we’ve explored together today. It’s inspiring to see how organizations like ours can contribute to the evolving energy landscape, and we remain committed to supporting the initiatives of Bruce Power, that drive growth and sustainability.
Lastly, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to each and every one of you for coming out today, and for your presence and engagement. Your participation underscores the importance of collaboration and dialogue in advancing Ontario’s growth, and achieving our shared goals together. It’s through these conversations as friends that we can foster the connections and partnerships necessary to navigate the future effectively. As we move forward, I would encourage you all to take the insights gained from today, and take them back to our own respective organizations and community. Let’s continue to work together as friends, share our ideas, and support one another in this critical journey. Thank you again for today. Safe travels. I look forward to seeing you guys at a next event. Have a wonderful afternoon.
Concluding Remarks by Jenna Donelson
Thank you, Marco. Eric, in his speech, mentioned that innovation is a must, and I think that’s coming through in your remarks, and what we’ve heard today, so thank you very much. As we conclude today’s event, I want to once again extend my sincere thanks to Lisa and Eric for that engaging conversation, and to all of our sponsors for their generous support. I also just want to note that for a long time now, Bruce Power has shared the Empire Club’s vision to amplify conversations that matter, and bring important thought leadership to our audience. So, I want to also say a special thank you to Pat and James, for all the work that you have done to support that. It’s been a pleasure working with you over the years, and we appreciate you very much.
I’d also like to recognize some of the students and young leaders we have in the room, from Humber Polytechnic. You’re right back there. Thank you for being a part of our community, and helping advance these public dialogue.
And finally, please don’t forget to subscribe to the Empire Club’s newsletter, by scanning the QR code that you’ll find at your table. That way, we can keep you informed and connected about the events that we have coming up. You may have noticed that today’s event is the first in our Energy Series. On October 24th, we will be hosting Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Electrification, the Honourable Stephen Lecce, and on November 5th, we’ll be hosting Michelle Harradence, President of Enbridge Gas. So, please join us for what will be two fantastic events.
As a club of record, all Empire Club events are available to watch and listen to on our website, and a recording of this event will be available shortly. With that, I want to thank you all for joining us today. We hope to see you again soon. Have a great afternoon. This meeting is now adjourned.
