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AECL - OFFICIAL USE ONLY / À USAGE EXCLUSIF - EACL

Post Fukushima Activities

at AECL

Stephen J. Bushby

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited

Chalk River Laboratories, Ontario, Canada

2014 October 29

Outline

1. Challenges Faced by AECL post Fukushima

2. Phase 2 of AECL Restructuring – The Nuclear

Laboratories

3. Technical Support System within AECL

AECL - OFFICIAL USE ONLY / À USAGE EXCLUSIF - EACL 2

Gentilly 1

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

New

Brunswick

PROTECTED - SENSITIVE / PROTÉGÉ - DÉLICAT

AECL’s Canadian Footprint

Chalk River

Laboratories

Whiteshell

Laboratories

Douglas

Point

NPD

Port Hope /

Gransby

Glace

Bay

LaPrade

NPD = Nuclear Power Demonstration

Gentilly 1

Chalk River Laboratories


• 3700 Hectares

•Largest nuclear S&T

organization in Canada

• ~2700 staff

•Waste Management Areas

•Research facilities, including two

test reactors: Zed-2 and NRU

National Research Universal (NRU)


• In-service date: 1957

•135 MWth, 227 vertical lattice

sites

•Isotope production; experimental

loops; Neutron Beam Centre

• Safety system upgrades

• Integrated Safety Review in 2011

• In Fukushima-like event, single

largest source term at CRL

•Key differences in SA progression

between NRU and CANDU NPPs

Post-Fukushima Activities (1)

Enhance Emergency Response Capability

• Portable pumping equipment to supplement Qualified

Emergency Water System (QEWS)

• Portable DGs

• New earth-moving equipment

• Enhanced fire-fighting capability

• Supplemental equipment to support

loss of power in the Emergency Operating Centre

• Centralized storage facility

• Equipment to enhance SAMG effectiveness; e.g. new

power tie-ins, water-injection ports

• Identified responsibilities in the Canadian “Federal

Nuclear Emergency Plan” (FNEP)


Post-Fukushima Activities (2)

Severe Accident Management Program

• SAMP includes a number of activities building on reviews

and benchmarks

• Re-assessed earthquake, prolonged lost of power, and

flood mitigation readiness

• Stress testing on earthquake, flood, tornado, external fire,

aircraft

• SAMGs under development based on Westinghouse

Owners Group framework

–Outlines multiple methods to restore and retain core cooling,

emergency power, confinement integrity etc.

–Consists of control room guides, severe accident exit guides, and

diagnostic flow chart and computational aids


AECL Restructuring – 2 Phases

• Phase 1: Completed November 2011 with divestiture of AECL’s CANDU

Reactor Division to SNC Lavalin (CanduEnergy)

• Phase 2: AECL’s existing labs will be operated under Government-

Owned Contractor-Operated (GoCo) model

– Procurement underway; targeted completion date: October 2015

– Future governance for the lab closely parallels the UK model

– AECL will be a much smaller Crown Corporation (~50 people) that

oversees the GoCo contract (similar to the role performed by the UK

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority)

– Majority of the current staff (~3400 people) will be transferred to a “Site

Operating Company” (e.g. Sellafield) called:


Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL)


• As of 2014 November 3, everything that has traditionally been associated

with AECL will be performed by the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

•Procurement will end October 2015 when control of CNL (the

“share”) is transferred to the successful GoCo contractor, and the

new AECL is fully operational

•CNL will become a wholly-owned

subsidiary of AECL

•Licences transferred

[email protected]

Defined Missions for CNL

1. Support government in its obligation to manage historic and

legacy liabilities

2. Provide nuclear science and technology capabilities and

services to federal government departments

3. Support the nuclear industry’s need for Commercial R&D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

One Potential Mission:

4. Implement an industry-driven, cost-shared nuclear innovation

agenda


Technical Support System

within AECL

• Within Canada

–Close collaboration through an industry association called

CANDU Owners Group (COG); brings together expertise

from utilities, other Canadian nuclear S&T organizations

– Greater collaboration/interactions in future with other federal

departments; e.g. Health Canada, Canadian Border Security,

Environment Canada, CNSC

• Outside Canada

–Collaborative

– e.g. IAEA, CSNI, IRSN, Gen IV, etc.

–Suppliers

– e.g. Halden, NITI, Saclay, etc



Tube sheet boundaries must

be preserved

In-vessel Retention Phenomena

Conducted heat to the calandria vault

water cannot exceed the CV CHF

Crust/CV wall

interaction

•Does stratification occur?

•RASPLAV and MASCA very informative, but melt composition

for PHWR and LWR different


Equilibrium CANDU Corium Tests

• Test ingots prepared and

inspected at NITI

• No evidence of stratification

UNRESTRICTED / ILLIMITÉ 14

GRAPE - Joint Activity with the CNSC

GRaphical Animation Package Extension – interactive interface to

MAAP-CANDU


GRAPE – Core and Calandria Behaviour


GRAPE – Core, Side View

Managing Capabilities –

Centres of Excellence


Nuclear & Radioactive Materials Management

Irradiation & Post-Irradiation Services

Nuclear Safety, Security & Risk Management

Radiation Biology, Radioecology & Dosimetry

Materials & Chemistry in Nuclear Applications

Advanced Nuclear Fuel & Fuel Cycles

Systems Engineering

Hydrogen & Hydrogen Isotope Management

Advanced Computing, Modeling & Simulation

Environmental Remediation and Nuclear Waste Management

• People, Facilities, Key Suppliers, Collaborations

Summary

• Post-Fukushima activities are well-defined and good

progress is being made

• The restructuring of the Laboratories provides an S&T

mandate for the AECL/CNL in the future

• Restructuring provides an opportunity for explicitly

strengthening cooperation/collaboration on TSO-

activities, particularly with the Canadian regulator

• International collaboration will continue to be

imperative, but uniqueness of the CANDU design

requires a strong enduring capacity within Canada

• Centres of Excellence are a good vehicle for framing

and maintaining capabilities within CNL


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