Stern Laboratories

6 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 10 “These things are making nuclear power a much better system to put in place,” he offers. “In Ontario, they’re saying that by 2035, we’ll need to double the electricity grid, and that’s a huge task in a fairly short period. Nuclear plants are extremely expensive to build, but they are a long-term investment; once they’re built the fuel costs are relatively low, so it’s kind of inflation- proof power over the long run. Some of the Pickering units put in 1971 are still running after 50 years. That’s quite a good investment for the province.” (The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Pickering, Ontario, is one of the oldest nuclear power stations in the world and Canada’s third-largest, with eight CANDU reactors.) Hadaller says that some of these older plants are now being primed for uprates: “Ten years ago, there wasn’t a lot of hope for the industry. It looked like the plants were just going to run their course and then be shut down. But in Ontario, 12 plants have life extensions on them. The nuclear operators in Ontario are customers of ours and they’re renewing their fleet with life extensions and looking at new builds, as well, so we expect there’s going to be some business that will trickle down to us. “There are four new SMR plants planned for Darlington; these are BWRX-300s and shovels are in the ground. There’s also talk about a large nuclear plant in Ontario, again. So, this is a huge change in the last five years. We also have contracts and negotiations with customers in Europe that we’re working with on some of their projects and power upgrades. I’m also pleased to see that in the U.S, The Inflation Reduction Act includes life extensions on existing plants. So we see opportunity.” Continuous improvement Having recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, Hadaller says that Stern Laboratories will continue to make improvements to its processes and procedures. “The experiments we do are extremely complicated,” he says in conclusion. “They often have some challenges that need to be solved and we’re always looking to make sure we apply lessons learned so we meet our customer expectations, or exceed them if we can. That’s what we’re striving for. We have a unique view of the industry because we’re working across a wide range of customers. That means we can often try and use some of the things that we used in one jurisdiction to help others,” he adds. “That’s something we bring to the table for a customer. We’re always learning new things, and things look bright as far as we can see.” PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n The MultiCare Group of Companies multicarebenefits.com The group benefits and retirement industry has witnessed a gradual commoditization. However, we firmly reject the notion that this fate is inevitable for our firm. Instead, we wholeheartedly embrace a different perspective – one that centers on collaboration and personalized service with our partner clients.