On September 21, 2026, Local 793 Vice-President and Energy Sector Manager Mike Scott joined Energy Minister Stephen Lecce, Ontario Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Trevor Jones and Local 793 Business Rep Brendan Ryan at the Pickering Nuclear Generating station to announce the beginning of the Pickering “B” refurbishment project.
Our members will be involved at every step of the refurbishment process.
Local 793 member Amanda Roussy opened the ceremony with a land acknowledgement and information about the project.
The project is expected to secure a long-term supply of Cobalt-60, a life-saving medical isotope used worldwide in cancer treatments and in the sterilization of medical equipment and food products, while supporting the government’s work to double the number of medical isotopes produced in the province over the next four years.
Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) forecasts that the province’s electricity demand could increase by as much as 90 per cent by 2050, due to population growth, new housing, electrification, advanced manufacturing, and expansion of critical minerals supply chains. With nuclear power providing nearly 50 per cent of Ontario’s electricity supply, the industry currently supports around 80,000 jobs across the province.
Four reactors at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station are beginning to come off-line to be refurbished at an estimated cost of $26.8 billion, with the actual refurbishment work set to start in January.
The project is expected to take the units out of service for roughly a decade and would extend the nuclear plant’s life by an estimated 38 years while producing enough electricity to power 2.2 million homes.
