Bruce Power's Retooling and Economic Recovery Council announces early initiatives

The Retooling and Economic Recovery Council formed by Bruce Power less than a month ago announced several initiatives undertaken recently to help in the fight against COVID-19 during a Facebook Live event Thursday.

The Council, introduced formally on April 30, includes all of Bruce Power’s supply chain partners in the nuclear industry and in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

It’s largely made up of Bruce Power’s Ontario-based suppliers and the over 400 companies supporting the nuclear operator through its Life-Extension Program.

The Facebook Live event featured Bruce Power’s President and CEO Mike Rencheck, Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s minister of economic development, job creation and trade, and Lisa Thompson, Huron-Bruce MPP and the minister of government and consumer services.

One of the Council’s members, Promation, has developed a low-cost ventilator in response to the potential of a sudden surge in demand because of COVID-19 or other future emergencies.

The Oakville-based custom design and manufacturing firm, which is supporting Bruce Power’s Major Component Replacement Project, collaborated with scientists and industry experts at University Health Network, University of Toronto, and Mackenzie Innovation Institute to develop the ventilators.

The design can be easily mass-produced, and the company is sharing its knowledge with other teams globally.

Local company Abraflex is making gowns for hospitals, and a company called Kinectrics is testing respiratory masks and personal protective equipment.

Furthermore, Three Sheets Brewing in Port Elgin is producing hand sanitizer. NPX Innovation in Kincardine is producing 3D-printed face shields and also helped build and launch the Grey Bruce Huron Strong app.

Video vignettes of the various projects were streamed during the event.

Bruce Power also announced it will be carrying out a second harvest of the isotope used to sterilize medical equipment starting in September.

The Colbalt-60 isotope harvest is expected to provide enough material to sterilize up to 11-billion pairs of surgical gloves and swabs globally.

A previous shipment of Colbalt-60 was finalized in March. The material is processed by an Ottawa-based company called Nordion before it’s shipped to medical facilities across Canada and throughout the world.

The Council has launched a website (www.rerc.ca) where visitors can track its progress and initiatives and includes a PPE database with information on what the supply chain has available, companies with the ability to produce additional PPE, and guidance for securing materials to safely operate businesses.

In April, Bruce Power announced it is helping to provide 1.2 million pieces of PPE to frontline healthcare workers.

It’s still the largest private-sector donation announced in Canada during the pandemic.

The donated pieces of PPE include surgical masks, N-95 masks, 02 masks, gloves, and face shields.

Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program is Canada’s second-largest infrastructure project and largest private-sector infrastructure program. It is targeted to contribute $4 billion to Ontario’s GDP and between $8 to $11 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP).

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