The turbines were purchased from a Soviet-run manufacturer in the mid1970s. The generation station was completed in 1979 at a cost of $310 million.

Early last month, a European engineer familiar with the Soviet-made turbines, sought out Hydro's engineers at a conference overseas. The European engineer's warning was serious enough that Manitoba Hydro shut Jenpeg down almost immediately. Manitoba Hydro engineers inspected the first turbine and found many cracks on the shaft near the propellers. Each of the other five turbines will now be disassembled and inspected during the shut-down.

The Jenpeg shutdown costs Hydro $100,000 a day in lost power. Jenpeg is one of the Crown corporation's smallest plants, so no export contracts will be affected If the turbines need to be replaced it will take years for new turbines to be manufactured and installed.

Gaile Whelan Enns of Manitoba Wildlands commented, "There is no environmental license, public environmental management plan, or public emergency plan for this dam. We hope that Manitoba Hydro is completely transparent about this situation as it evolves."