AECL's Advanced CANDU Reactor Achieves Important Milestone
February 20, 2009
MISSISSAUGA, ON, Feb. 20, 2009 -- Canada NewsWire
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has completed Phase 1 of a Pre-Project Design Review of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's (AECL)
Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000). The conclusion is that, at the high
level, the ACR-1000 design is compliant with Canadian regulations.
With completion of Phase 1, the CNSC has begun Phase 2 of the two-step
Pre-Project Design Review.
"The CNSC has determined in this preliminary stage of their
review that the ACR-1000 is a robust reactor design," says AECL President
and CEO Hugh MacDiarmid. "We welcome this news as business activity to build
new nuclear reactor plants continues to surge around the world, including
interest in the CANDU(R) design."
The objective of a Pre-Project Design review is to verify, at a
high level, the acceptability of a nuclear reactor design with respect to
Canadian safety requirements and criteria. This includes the
identification of fundamental barriers to licensing a new reactor design in Canada.
The CNSC Phase 1 Pre-Project Design Review of the ACR-1000
concluded
that:
- AECL has provided sufficient design and analysis information
for the purpose of this review;
- At an overall level, the design intent is compliant with the
CNSC regulatory requirements, and meets the expectations for new nuclear
power plants in Canada; and,
- CNSC staff did not find any issues that would lead to
significant reactor design changes.
"We are confident in the merits of the ACR-1000 as it's built
on the fundamentals of our CANDU reactor design, including the CANDU 6,
which has been built on-time and on-budget on four continents in the last 12
years," says MacDiarmid. "We want to build the first ACR-1000 on Canadian
soil, so the Canadian regulator's review process is extremely important to us."
Phase 2 of the Pre-Project Design Review will identify any
potential fundamental barriers to licensing the design in Canada, and is
scheduled for completion in August 2009.
About the ACR-1000
The ACR-1000 is Atomic Energy of Canada's evolutionary, Gen III+
(*), 1200 MWe-class pressure tube reactor. It is a light water cooled,
heavy water moderated pressure tube reactor derived from the well-
established CANDU line.
The ACR-1000 retains the basic, well-proven, features of the
CANDU plant design such as a modular, horizontal fuel channel core, a
low-temperature heavy-water moderator, water-filled vault, two
independent diverse shutdown systems, on-power fuelling, simple fuel design and
reactor building accessibility for on-power maintenance.
(*) Gen III+ is the classification given to nuclear
technologies by the US Department of Energy, applying to reactor designs that feature
enhanced safety, economics and operability. The ACR-1000 is one of the
technologies considered to be a Generation III+ design.
About AECL
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is a full-service nuclear
technology company providing services to nuclear utilities around the world.
Established in 1952, AECL is the designer and builder of CANDU
technology, including the CANDU 6, one of the world's top performing reactors.
AECL's 5,000 employees deliver cutting edge nuclear services, R&D support,
design and engineering, construction management, specialized technology,
refurbishment, waste management and decommissioning in support of
CANDU reactor products.
SOURCE: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited