Ontario is finally giving its aging nuclear fleet a multi-billion dollar facelift.

“The planned refurbishments will create almost 25,000 jobs and generate $5 billion annually in economic activity,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said Wednesday.

“We’re moving ahead with significant steps right now to ensure that the refurbishment of Darlington and Bruce are done right. So that refurbishment is in the planning stages.”

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli is expected to announce Thursday the refurbishment of six of the massive Bruce nuclear plant’s eight reactors.

That will be followed next month by the unveiling of a mid-life overhaul of Ontario Power Generation’s four reactors at Darlington.

Nuclear power accounts for the vast majority of Ontario’s electricity generation — it was 65 per cent of output on Wednesday — so updating the huge facilities is critical.

While Chiarelli was tight-lipped at Queen’s Park about his plans, he stressed that taxpayers would be protected from the cost overruns that plague most nuclear projects.

“There has been layer on layer on layer of due diligence that has been done. There has been razor sharp focus on price,” the minister told reporters.

“We also have built into the process . . . some off-ramps,” he said.

“They’re long-term commitments, but they’re off-ramps that enable us to change directions if need be, so we’re very, very confident . . . that it’s a smart thing to do.”

Chiarelli noted refurbishment “costs 50 per cent of building new nuclear.”

“And the other thing that is more important now than ever is there are no emissions from it,” he said, referring to the fact that atomic power does not generate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, though disposing of radioactive waste remains a challenge.

“It also presents export opportunities for the companies involved in the nuclear sector in Ontario because in . . . China and India they’re going nuclear because they’re killing their people with pollution. They’ve got to have clean energy.”

Refurbishing up to 10 reactors could cost $25 billion and take 15 years.

Bruce Power, the private company that operates the world’s largest currently operating nuclear station, and OPG, the Crown utility, have been in negotiations with Queen’s Park on their respective overhauls for years.

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But the refurbishment plan will only be half-completed before OPG’s Pickering station is slated to close in 2020.

Two years ago, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government indefinitely shelved plans for OPG to build two new reactors at Darlington.

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