Bruce County staff provided an update on the progress of the Bruce C project.
Commissioner Claire Dodds shared that at this point, staff are working to gather comments to submit to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), which is working in collaboration with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
“We are engaging on a regular basis with the Bruce C team, and they’re certainly keeping us apprised, as is the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, around statutory processes and phases for engagement so we are preparing in the new year,” said Dodds. “We anticipate IAAC will share a tailored impact statement guidelines, which will be the next opportunity for county staff to be fully engaged to provide comments and we will continue to work with our municipal staff closely as those comments come together.”
Between July 2023 and July 2024, Bruce Power had worked with the county, local municipalities, and stakeholders in the pre-planning phase of the Bruce C project.
That work has been a big task for staff, and now the county is looking to create a staff position that will be filled by a person dedicated to advancing active and timely engagement on the Bruce C project.
“Work has already begun on the Bruce C project, and there’s certainly timeframes where there is very intense work, and then there is core foundational work that continues to need to be moved ahead. With the position that we are advertising in terms of a contract position, this would allow us to have a dedicated staff person that would allow us to move along that core foundational work as well as be dedicated to respond to those intensive periods of time where we are providing comments often to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada,” Dodds added.
“The work that we do with Bruce Power is important. They’re an important economic driver in our community,” CAO Christine MacDonald said as she justified the creation of a contract staff position to help with the work. “We do need to create space for positions such as the commissioner’s to be working on the mass portfolio.”
The Bruce C project proposes to add 4800 MW of generating capacity from four new reactors.
IAAC issued the Summary of Issues for the Bruce C project. Bruce Power filed their response to the Summary of Issues with IAAC on December 6th.