Tracy Primeau Full Interview

Tracy Primeau grew up in Kincardine, Ontario "right beside the largest nuclear plant in the world". Her father, then a shift mechanic at Darlington, suggested that she become an operator in training, and she signed up for an internship. It took 18 months to qualify as a field operator, one of the very first women to serve in this role. On her first shift, her hand became trapped in a contamination monitor – it was designed for men, who have larger hands. She subsequently discovered that he relatively small size allowed her to work in tight spaces that did not readily accommodate larger men. She enjoyed her work with the emergency response team, recalling a "huge" transport leak at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station in 1994, where they had to go into the reactor and manually close a valve after the unit came offline. After ten years, she was promoted from field operator to control operator – in part because it reminded her of the command deck of the Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". As an Authorized Nuclear Operator, was involved with refurbishing Units 3 and 4 and then 1 and 2 of the Bruce A reactor. Eventually she was promoted to control room shift supervisor and the shift manager – the first and only woman to do that from the shop floor. After retiring in June, 2021, she joined the Ontario Power Generation Board of Directors. She also chairs the Women's House in Kincardine, works on the local hockey club executive, and operates a small consulting company, Agile Bear. She is active in efforts to increase the numbers of women in engineering and is part of a LinkedIn group called DAWN – "Driving for the Advancement of Women in Nuclear". Her leadership philosophies are guided by "seven grandfather teachings" in the indigenous world that include truth, respect, wisdom and humility.