Point Lepreau nuclear generating station is a 635-MW unit commissioned in 1983 and was the first CANDU-6 to begin commercial operation. The refurbishment project is a CAD$1 billion project, with engineering currently under way and implementation scheduled from April 2008 through October 2009.

Scope of Services
Hatch – Sargent & Lundy (HSL) is performing an ongoing, comprehensive assessment of the overall execution of the Refurbishment Project and apprises the NB PowerBoard of Directors of key findings and issues on a quarterly basis.

Specific oversight and review tasks are summarized below:

• Review of overall project management processes (including among others quality and risk management)
• Review of managerial reports
• Review of project costs and accounting
• Periodic monitoring of engineering, procurement and field work (including manufacturing)
• Review of schedule progress against target
• Identification of risk areas and confirmation of management risk planning
• Assessment of problem identification and corrective action programs, including a review of current findings and trends
• Review licensing program and issues
• Review and assess project staffing and manloading analyses
• Review of training and employee/contractor qualification programs
• Review design control program, including milestone definitions, design freezes, and review and control of field changes
• Review and assessment of procurement policies and procedures
• Review of the documentation control program, including both design documents, work instructions and procedures, turnover packages and operating and maintenance documents
• Review of the commissioning plan and performance.

HSL’s project reviews are summarized quarterly in a report and presentation to be made to the NB Board of Directors.

Oversight Approach
The foundation of HSL’s oversight approach is the experience gained during the successful Bruce Nuclear Generating Station Restart project. The joint venture was the primary contractor for the restart of Units 3 and 4 of the Bruce A Nuclear Generating Station. Our performance on that project earned the 2004 Schreyer Award for Excellence in Canadian Consulting Engineering. Our oversight approach utilizes the lessons learned during the Bruce project to ensure that the Point Lepreau project oversight is based on a recent, successful comparable project.

A major nuclear plant refurbishment project, such as the Point Lepreau Refurbishment Project, typically goes through several phases. In broad terms, these phases include project planning and initiation, design and procurement, construction, system turnover and commissioning, start-up, and close-out. The overall success of the project depends on effective execution of each of the phases, and different oversight tasks are more critical during different phases. For example, the development and implementation of an effective project management program is very critical at the beginning of the project; similarly, having an effective design control program in place is critical to support the engineering and procurement phase, and having an effective turn-over and commissioning program is critical towards the end of construction. HSL’s oversight approach is designed to provide the flexibility required for different phases of the project:

• HSL develops a quarterly review plan to identify the activities, assignments, schedule, and focus areas for a current review.
• The HSL Project Manager and selected HSL team members attend or call into regularly scheduled project meetings, such as the Owner’s Rep Team (ORT), Project Review Meeting (PRM), Site Interface Committee (SIC), and Executive Refurbishment Committee (ERC) meetings, as observers.
• Project documents and reports, such as the monthly AECL status report, integrated project schedule, quarterly updates of project risk profiles, and new and revised programs and procedures, are reviewed by the HSL project team.
• The HSL project team contacts various members of NB Power management and the Refurbishment project team, including third party contractors, to discuss specific project scope, schedule, budget, and risk issues. These contacts are made via teleconferences and meetings during site visits. On an ongoing basis, HSL identifies and discusses concerns and recommendations, as well as NB Power’s response to current and previous concerns and recommendations, with the NB Power management team throughout the oversight process.
• The HSL Project Manager maintains regular contact with other project oversight and audit groups, such as the Point Lepreau Generating Station Independent Assessment Group, to coordinate various oversight activities.
• HSL summarizes new recommendations and submits them, along with open recommendations from previous reviews, to the Refurbishment Project Director for review, comment and overall NB Power response at the end of each quarterly oversight period. The Refurbishment Project Director and HSL Project Manager discuss and reach agreement on the basis for the issues, risks and recommendations, as well as the adequacy of NB Power’s response.
• HSL develops a draft oversight assessment report to summarize the current issues, risks, recommendations, as well as a summary of NB Power’s responses to these items. The draft report is submitted to the Refurbishment Project Director and NB Power Vice President, Nuclear, for review and comment.
• Based on the resolution of NB Power’s comments, HSL finalizes and presents the oversight report first to NB Power’s Executive Refurbishment Committee, then to the Board of Directors’ Nuclear Oversight Committee.

Should there be any disagreements between HSL and NB Power relative to the issues, risks, recommendations, or responses identified by HSL during the oversight review, they are resolved before the draft report is finalized and the quarterly Board presentation.

Project highlights

• First refurbishment of a CANDU 6 reactor in the world and will extend the life of the station for an additional 25 to 30 years