News Release

FREDERICTON (CNB) - The provincial government is proposing a mediation process be initiated to settle the question of continuing cost overruns on the Point Lepreau refurbishment project.

"In the spirit of co-operation and finding a mutually acceptable resolution to this very important matter, we are proposing to the federal government that we put the issue of project delay costs for the Point Lepreau refurbishment to a mediation process to determine a fair outcome for the ratepayers of our province," said Energy Minister Jack Keir. "We envision this process would be conducted on a 'without prejudice' basis, with both governments retaining the right to accept or not accept the results."

Gaëtan Thomas, president and chief executive officer, NB Power, said the lengthy delay in getting Point Lepreau back on line has placed an enormous burden on the provincial utility. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) confirmed this morning that the refurbishment will take another year or more to complete.

"Needless to say, we are very disappointed to have this latest delay in the completion of Phase 2 of the Point Lepreau refurbishment confirmed by AECL," Thomas said. "This will push the project completion date back at least a year and possibly longer."
 
Thomas added that the additional delays are chiefly the result of issues encountered in refitting new calandria tubes into the plant's reactor core as part of Phase 2.

He said that the cost of these unanticipated delays must eventually be recovered from New Brunswick ratepayers unless the federal government agrees that AECL must shoulder its fair share of these costs.

"New Brunswick ratepayers should not have to bear the financial burden of AECL's learning curve on re-tubing CANDU-6 reactors," Keir said. "That is why I am calling on my federal counterparts to accept our proposal to put the question of the cost overruns to a mediation process to ensure New Brunswickers are not made to bear the full burden of AECL's delays in bringing Point Lepreau back on line."
 
The Point Lepreau Refurbishment Project began on March 28, 2008. Once completed, the project is expected to extend the generating station's life by 25 to 30 years.

Point Lepreau is the first CANDU-6 reactor to undergo a refurbishment of this nature. The original scheduled project completion date was Sept. 30, 2009. Due to continuing refurbishment delays, this deadline was later extended to February 2011 prior to the confirmation of the latest deadline extension by AECL.