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. For further information: Dale Coffin, Director, Corporate Communications, AECL, (905) 403-7457
Source: Newswire.ca
