BLIND RIVER REFINERY
Uranium oxide or yellowcake from Cameco's North American mining operations is refined into a high purity uranium trioxide powder (UO3) at Blind River that is sent on for further conversion and processing at Port Hope and Springfields in the U.K.
PORT HOPE CONVERSION FACILITY
The Port Hope conversion facility is one of the Western world's largest. The facility converts UO3 powder into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) which is the chemical form that is needed for the process that enriches fuel for light water reactors. The facility also has a separate plant to produce uranium dioxide (UO2) which is the form of uranium used in Canadian-designed Candu reactors
CAMECO FUEL MANUFACTURING INC.
Cameco Fuel Manufacturing division in Port Hope uses natural uranium dioxide (UO2) from our conversion facility in Port Hope to manufacture fuel pellets and package them into fuel bundles used in Candu reactors. A separate manufacturing facility in nearby Cobourg manufactures the zirconium tubes that contain the fuel pellets and also manufactures key components such as calandria tubes for Candu reactors.
BRUCE POWER
Bruce Power operates six nuclear reactors and is refurbishing two more at its site on Lake Huron. Cameco owns a 31.6% share of the four Bruce B reactors within the larger Bruce complex. This is equivalent to Cameco providing about 1,000 megawatts of baseload power to the Ontario grid.