FREDERICTON - NB Power says it has completed nearly half of all installations of fuel channels for the refurbishment of Atlantic Canada's only nuclear power plant.
The public utility company says 48 per cent of the 380 installations at the Point Lepreau reactor are done.
The company says it is also seeking a five-year operating licence renewal from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and has asked for authorization to load fuel into the reactor.
The licence expires at the end of June 2012.
The refurbishment has been plagued by delays and cost overruns of about $1 billion.
When the project started, the reactor was expected to be back in service in the fall of 2009.
NB Power says it now expects to have the power plant up and running by the fall of 2012.
