Duncan Hawthorne is a man who clearly gets a charge out of tackling the loftiest of challenges.

The son of a Scottish shipyard electrician emerged from the shop floor of British Energy to toil his way into senior management with the Glasgow company, and today is one of the world's leading authorities on nuclear power. So you won't see him wincing over his current challenge at Bruce Power, one of Ontario's largest independent power generators.

As chief executive officer of Bruce Power, Hawthorne faces the monumental task of spearheading the restoration of one of the nuclear generating stations at the Bruce plant on Lake Huron, a complex $4.25-billion project that is regarded as a crucial test case for the global nuclear industry. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is Canada's first private nuclear generator.

Hawthorne's illustrious career spanning three decades in the power-generation industry has been highlighted by numerous awards, including a recent distinction as the Energy Council of Canada's Energy Person of the Year. He is Canada's leading advocate of nuclear power. Yet, the exuberant Hawthorne is not one who is especially fond of dwelling on past achievements. His eyes are firmly cast on the next prize.

Photo illustration by Ken Kerr, Business Edge
Bruce Power CEO Duncan Hawthorne is confident his company will bring its new project in on time and on budget.

When you're Duncan Hawthorne, there's always one more mountain to climb.

1. You were recently honoured as Energy Person of the Year. What does that award mean to you?

"It's a great honour to get the reward. Yeah, I was very pleased with it. It's one of those awards that transcends all energy sectors. So given that I'm the first person from the nuclear energy to get it is important because it gives recognition to the industry. If you look at the way the industry has been viewed over the last six or seven years, we seem not to be a technology that's in favour. So, since Bruce Power came into existence in 2001, we've tried hard to kind of rebrand the industry somewhat. So this award to me is a kind of recognition that some progress has been made."

2. Is the public's negative perception of the nuclear industry improving at all to your satisfaction?

"Well, obviously people have got long memories where bad news is concerned. So I look at it on a basis of steady progress. We've made good progress. We returned two of the shut-down reactors (at the Bruce Power plant) to service in 2003. Certainly, in the local community, people are really supportive. Even if you look at the opinion polls, you'll see that the support for nuclear is growing. A poll has just come out that shows that a majority of Canadians support nuclear power."

3. How do you see the nuclear power industry evolving in Canada?

"People are looking to Ontario because they know that decisions are much more pressing here. The power authority (in Ontario) has been given a (mandate) by the government to recommend a supply mix and most people, I think, believe that that recommendation will include a role for nuclear. Obviously, similar conversations have taken place throughout the world. The U.S. Department of Energy has tried to create a favourable climate for nuclear. So the announcement we made recently on the Bruce restart project caught international attention. That appeared in the Wall Street Journal, in the Miami Herald and throughout the U.K. So people are looking at Ontario to see what kind of decisions are made here."

4. What is the status of the Bruce Power project?

"We have committed to a $4.25-billion program of work which would see us return to service Bruce Units 1 and 2 which have been laid up since the mid-1990s. Also, when it becomes necessary, we will invest to extend the life of Units 3 and 4. So it's a very significant investment in nuclear technology."

5. What's the timeframe in completing that project and how confident are you that it will be accomplished?

Ken Kerr, Business Edge
Duncan Hawthorne's solid grounding in the industry and his competitive spirit have powered him up the ladder.

"We expect to have the first power from this project in 2009. It'll be the biggest nuclear refurbishment ever undertaken and obviously a very complex project. In terms of how confident we are to do it on time and on budget, we've actually contracted with many of the major players on the nuclear scene and we've done it in a way that much of the project cost is fixed-price. So it gives us high confidence that we can do it on time and on budget. This is a chance for us to prove that the industry can be trusted again. It's great that we've been able to attract the investment, which in itself is a vote of confidence. What needs to happen now is that we have to demonstrate to the public that we can actually deliver on one of these projects."

6. What are the major obstacles that you foresee in completing the project?

"We're doing things that haven't been done before in terms of stripping out the reactor internals and replacing steam generators. These are projects that haven't actually been undertaken before. There's a degree of first-of-a-kind risk in some of the tasks. It involves multiple contractors, all of whom have to be co-ordinated, so it's not an easy project by any means."

7. What's your response to critics who complain that the public sector is footing part of the bill?

"My position is that the vast majority of the risk falls upon the private sector. The public-sector investment is minimal in comparison to that of the private sector. Don't forget that the province still owns these assets. So we're investing $4.25 billion in private-sector funds in assets that are still owned by the province. We carry all the operational risk. We share benefits of the business plan with the province but we take all of the risk of performance, so I think it's a pretty good model."

8. On a global basis, how important do you think nuclear energy will become in the next decade?

"I think it's certainly going to get a second chance. The U.S. Department of Energy has talked about what they're going to be doing. China is going to multiply its nuclear fleet by six times and India by four times. Russia is going to double its nuclear fleet. In the U.K., (Prime Minister) Tony Blair gave a speech recently saying that he would be looking seriously at renewing a nuclear program. There's also more interest in Finland and France. So you're seeing a growing interest in nuclear and obviously the reasons for that are clear with high gas prices, significant volatility in gas prices and some concern about security of supply. All of those things kind of lead you to a view that nuclear will become part of the mix in most countries."

9. How do you respond to environmental concerns over nuclear power?

"I say, 'if you don't want nuclear power, then tell me what the credible option is.' And don't tell me that people don't want energy because they do. There are also a growing number of environmentalists that have come around to the view that nuclear, if you care about the environment, is a credible option. And some of the original founders of Greenpeace now speak very positively on nuclear power. So environmentalists are really in a bit of a dilemma now because they can't be seen to do a complete U-turn, while at the same time I think they acknowledge that for climate-change reasons, you have to consider nuclear (over fossil fuel). So my message to them generally is that they have to be a bit more open-minded. I don't think any technology is perfect and I don't profess that nuclear is either. But it does offer some advantages over fossil fuel."

10. After spending most of your career with British Energy in the U.K, what initially brought you to Canada and Bruce Power?

"I came to North America in 1997 with the intention of acquiring nuclear plants. I originally started in a joint venture in the U.S. with AmerGen where we (British Energy) acquired power plants. Then the opportunity came up here and led to the activities to acquire the Bruce site. Then I took over as the chief executive officer. At the time, British Energy got into some financial distress in the U.K. and had to sell its Bruce assets to a combination of Canadian companies - TransCanada, Cameco and Borealis. So I left British Energy to become the chief executive officer of Bruce Power. So, despite my dubious Canadian accent, we are now an all-Canadian company."

11. You spent 26 years with British Energy. How did you get your start with that company?

"I actually left school at 15 and started as a craft apprentice with British Energy (in Glasgow, Scotland). Then, when I was 21, I had the chance to go back and do a university degree through a scholarship that the company ran. I came back from university (Strathclyde University in Scotland) as a junior engineer."

12. How do you reflect on your experience at British Energy?

"I've got a kind of career that is not really normal. Not many people would start where I did on the shop floor and end up where I am today. My experience with British Energy has given me a good grounding. I feel that when I speak to people on power plants, I can speak their language because I've done their job, having worked my way from the shop floor through a lot of positions. That gives you a certain degree of credibility when you interact with people when you've been in their place before."

13. To what do you attribute your success in working your way up to your current role as a CEO?

"I think it was a willingness to take on more or less any challenge rather than settling for where I was. I've always had a desire to see how far I could go. And the way to get there is to learn the job you're in well, and then look for opportunities to kind of stretch yourself. That's been the kind of model I've used my entire career."

14. Did you always have that sort of attitude, even during your youth in Scotland?

"I was the youngest of three brothers and there was only four years between the three of us. As you know, brothers can be very competitive and, being the baby and behind them if you like, I think it helps you get some kind of drive. You had to fight for your position in life. That kind of helped me grow up quickly. That competitive drive has been in me for as long as I could remember. People who know me would tell you that I'm pretty competitive with just about anything I do."

15. What was your boyhood dream?

"It was the same as everyone else. I wanted to be a soccer player. Every young boy wants to be a sportsman of some type. I grew up playing soccer and wanted to do that, but then you get to an age where you realize it's not going to happen. I was born on the River Clyde and everyone worked in the shipyards. My father and my two brothers worked there, but I chose a different path by going into the power industry. That was kind of a divergence from the family business. My father was an electrician, my older brother was an electrician and my other older brother was a welder. So it was very much a working-class family and the shipyards was the place where everyone in our area worked because it was by far the biggest employer."

16. How would you describe your business philosophy?

"I think people will tell you that I'm really informal with people and very visible with staff. And part of that has to do with my upbringing. I have a simple view that there are experts at every level of an organization and, if you can have a way to have them work with you willingly, then you're going to be successful. I believe my style is very open and communicative with people. My experience has been that people respond to that because they've never been asked before what they think about things and no one's really taken advantage of the expertise that they have. So I consider a key part of my job is talking to people, listening to people and giving them a chance to be successful in their own right. So I think it's more of an enabling style and certainly not a command-and-control style."

17. Is this a particularly stressful business?

"It can be, because obviously we're in a marketplace that is quite stressed itself because right now there isn't a lot of generation surplus here. So there's always a bit of pressure to perform. And at the same time, of course, the nuclear energy industry is a highly technological industry in its own right and there's a lot of complexity there that you have to keep on top of. But I don't believe any job's stressful if you enjoy doing it. It's a very exciting job. No two days are the same. I personally don't think it's stressful. In fact, having every day be the same would be extremely stressful for me. I like the challenge of the job, so I don't actually suffer from stress too much at all. I have the ability to switch off very quickly. I don't carry work home with me. I just feel that the job will kill you quickly if you can't just close the book on it. I play golf, but I'm also quite happy to sit home and read a book or watch television. I can easily unwind."

18. At what point will you put your feet on your desktop, raise a glass and pronounce that you've done it?

"Oh, that won't be for a long time yet. I believe we are capable of doing a lot more and I'm not even close to thinking about calling it quits yet. The job's easy to do when the company is growing and developing, and there's a lot of optimism about the place. You get your energy from everyone around about you. You know, nothing happens quickly in nuclear energy. We've made a lot of promises that we can restart these two reactors, so people are going to be looking really hard to see if we're successful or not. So there's a lot of expectation hanging on us and I believe this will be a really important watershed for the industry. If we can deliver this project on time and to budget, then it will tell everyone that the nuclear industry is worthwhile again.

"It's very challenging to manage a project like this, but it's also a healthy position to be in because we have an opportunity now."

19. What if it's not successful?

"We're spending shareholder dollars here so, if this were proven to be a risky business, then the prospect of anyone putting significant money behind something like this would be significantly reduced. This is a test case - a test case for the nuclear industry. If you ask people about nuclear projects right now, people will say they never come in on time or on budget. And people will point to field projects in the past. And, for me, I'd love to be in a position where they could point to Bruce Power as a successful project."

20. Beyond the current project, what's your next great challenge?

"I'd like to be the first company to build a new nuclear plant in North America. We have plenty of space here to build a new nuclear plant. We have good employees and great community around us. If we can do this refurbishment, then I see no reason why we couldn't be seriously considered for the first new nuclear plant in North America for a number of years. It's not a speedy process. It would probably take eight years. We could get started on that early next year. The first few years would be spent on environmental approval and licences. Someone has to go first - and I'd like it to be us."

Duncan Hawthorne

* Title: President/CEO, Bruce Power.

* Born/raised/age: Greenock, Scotland/50.

* Residence: Kincardine, Ont.

* Education: Strathclyde University (Scotland), MBA degree and honours degree in control engineering.

* Career: Hawthorne was appointed president and CEO of Bruce Power in 2001. He spent the previous 26 years with British Energy based in Glasgow, Scotland, and has also worked in power plants in the U.S. He started with British Energy as a craft apprentice and was executive director when he left that company to join Bruce Power.

* Moonlighting: Hawthorne is chairman of the Canadian Nuclear Association and chairman-elect of the board of governors of the World Association of Nuclear Operators-Atlanta.

* Accolades: Hawthorne was recently honoured as Energy Person of the Year by the Energy Council of Canada and is also a recipient of the Ian McCrae Award for leadership in the Canadian nuclear industry.

* Passions: Golf, downhill skiing, John Grisham novels.

Bruce Power

* Brass: Duncan Hawthorne, president/CEO; Robert Nixon, chief nuclear officer; Keith Wettlaufer, chief financial officer; Dwight Willett, executive vice-president, corporate services.

* Power Profile: Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is Canada's first private nuclear generator and one of Ontario's largest independent power generators. It is a partnership among Cameco Corp., BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (established by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), Power Workers' Union and the Society of Energy Professionals. Bruce Power is the licensed operator of the Bruce A and Bruce B nuclear generating stations on Lake Huron, approximately 250 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

* Output: Six of Bruce Power's eight CANDU reactors are currently operational and the combined net output of the stations is approximately 4,640 megawatts of emission-free electricity.

* Focus: Bruce Power recently reached an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority to launch a $4.25-billion investment program to restore the Bruce A generating station, beginning with the restart of Units 1 and 2. The restart of these units would boost Bruce Power's output to 6,200 megawatts, making it the supplier of about 25 per cent of Ontario's electricity on a typical day.

* Web Watch: www.brucepower.com

* Address: P.O. Box 3000, Tiverton, Ont. N0G 2T0.

* Phone: 519-361-2673.

(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)