UOIT nuclear engineering students tour Bruce Power facilities

Fourth-year Radioactive Waste Management Design students in the Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science (FESNS) enjoyed a unique opportunity this year to observe operations at Bruce Power’s Bruce A nuclear generating station on the shore of Lake Huron near Tiverton, Ontario. The Bruce Power site is the largest operating nuclear facility in the world. It currently supplies more than one-quarter of Ontario’s electricity.

Thirty-six students participated in the field trip, which also included a tour of Ontario Power Generation’s nearby Western Waste Management Facility.  Most of the low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste from Pickering, Darlington and the Bruce generating stations is processed and stored at the facility.

“This was very successful event and a vital opportunity for our nuclear engineering students to explore potential career paths that await them upon graduation,” said Dr. Brian Ikeda, Associate Professor, FESNS. “Part of our mission is to advance the discovery and application of knowledge, and prepare our students for the evolving 21^st-century workplace. We fulfil this through the integration of outcomes-based learning experiences inside and outside the classroom.”

The smaller group tours were conducted by several UOIT alumni including Alex Chong, Joel Courtney, Tyler Cosgrove, Matthew Venema, Andrew Gammie, Scott Wei Liang, and Patrick Desbien. All graduates are now employed as engineers on the Bruce Power site. Gerrit Huesing, a UOIT co-op student currently at Bruce Power also served as a guide.

“I know first-hand how classroom knowledge, even at the final year of university level, would only prepare a student so much, so I was very supportive when I heard about the tour,” said Chong (Bachelor of Engineering in Nuclear Engineering), now a Senior Technical Engineer/Officer working at Bruce Power in Reactor Design Engineering. “I had a very rewarding and positive experience in leading my peers as I knew it would be both helpful and put their future career paths into perspective.”

The public tour program at Bruce Power was suspended after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Although guests are still welcome at the corporate Visitors’ Centre, the UOIT tour required special dispensation from Bruce Power’s executive team. Volunteers to lead the tour also had to be sought.

“We had a tremendous response from our UOIT grads on site when the request to visit came through from the university,” said Rob Liddle, Communications Specialist, Bruce Power. “It was a great experience for the engineering students to interact with future peers and a wonderful opportunity for our people to serve as advocates for Bruce Power.”