The Wesleyville Nuclear Project has reached another major milestone as Ontario Power Generation (OPG) begins geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling at the Wesleyville site in Port Hope, advancing plans for what could become the world’s largest nuclear generating station.
The drilling campaign marks the first phase of the project’s Impact Assessment and is expected to continue through the summer. Crews will complete boreholes at 40 locations across the 1,300-acre property, reaching depths of between 60 and 120 metres to evaluate ground conditions for potential future construction.
OPG is carrying out the work in partnership with E.S. Fox, Indigenous-owned Voyageur Services and several local companies. Voyageur Services is owned by Noozhoo Nokiiyan LP, the economic development corporation of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.
If ultimately approved, the proposed nuclear station could generate up to 10,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 10 million homes, making it one of the largest nuclear generating facilities in the world.
In addition to drilling, OPG is conducting environmental and technical studies across the property, including vegetation, wildlife and bird surveys, aquatic and surface-water assessments, archaeological investigations, socio-economic studies and traffic analysis.
The province announced in early 2025 that it would move forward with evaluating the Wesleyville site for new nuclear generation. Since then, OPG has been engaging residents, Indigenous communities, local stakeholders and municipal leaders while operating a public discovery centre at the site.
Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce has described the project as a “nation-building” initiative, saying it could create approximately 10,000 Canadian jobs, contribute an estimated $235 billion to Canada’s GDP, and support Ontario’s rapidly growing electricity needs.
The project has particular significance for Durham Region because Wesleyville is located adjacent to the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington. OPG has already partnered with Williams Treaties First Nations on the nearby Darlington Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project, where First Nations secured a historic equity participation agreement announced earlier this year.
Voyageur Services has also secured several major contracts with OPG in recent years, including site preparation work for the Darlington SMR project, water treatment initiatives and dredging operations at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.
The Wesleyville property has remained undeveloped since construction of the planned oil-fired generating station was halted following the 1979 recession. OPG has maintained the site for decades because of its existing transmission infrastructure, transportation access and cooling-water availability, making it well suited for future electricity generation.
As Ontario’s electricity demand is projected to increase by approximately 75 per cent over the next 25 years, the province is evaluating additional energy generation at several OPG-owned sites, including Wesleyville, Nanticoke and Lambton, to help meet future demand.
The current drilling program represents another important step in determining whether the Wesleyville Nuclear Project can move forward to the next stage of planning and regulatory review.
