Bruce Power Ontario Bruce 6 reactor shut

NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Bruce Power LP's 822-megawatt Unit 6 at the Bruce nuclear power station in Ontario shut by early Monday, the Independent Electricity System Operator said in a report.

The 6,261 MW Bruce station is located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron north of Kincardine about 155 miles (250 km) northwest of Toronto. There are four 750 MW Units 1-4 at the A station (which entered service in 1977-1979) and three 822 MW Units 5-7 and one 795 MW Unit 8 at the B station (1984-1987).

Unit 7 shut Jan. 27 and will likely return in late March.

The company expects to increase the output of Unit 8 to about 822 MW by modifying the fuel-loading system by 2009.

Ontario Hydro, the former province-owned power company, shut Units 1 and 2 in 1997 and 1995, respectively, because they needed extensive upgrades.

One MW powers about 1,000 homes in Ontario.

Bruce Power LP, of Tiverton, Ontario, operates the entire Bruce complex and leases the Bruce B station from Ontario Power Generation, the province-owned generating company.

Bruce Power LP is owned by uranium miner Cameco Corp (CCO.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (31.6 percent), energy company TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) (31.6 percent), BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust, an investment entity owned by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (31.6 percent), the Power Workers' Union (4 percent) and the Society of Energy Professionals (1.2 percent).

Bruce Power A LP, which leases the Bruce A station from OPG, was set up when Bruce Power and the government agreed to restore the A station to full service. It is a partnership among TransCanada (47.4 percent), BPC (47.4 percent), the Power Workers' Union (4 percent) and the Society of Energy Professionals (1.2 percent).