pre-project regulatory reviews of acr-1000tm and ec6tm wgrnr... · “based on the phase 2 review,...
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Nik Popov
Director, Licensing & Safety Assurance
Product Development
CNRA International Workshop on
“New Reactor Siting, Licensing and Construction Experience”
State Office for Nuclear Safety, Prague, Czech Republic
15-17 Sept, 2010
Pre-Project Regulatory Reviews
Of ACR-1000TM
and EC6TM
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
Outline
2
1. ACR-1000® and EC6® Design
Summaries
2. Regulatory requirements for
new designs in Canada
3. CNSC pre-project review of
ACR-1000 design
4. CNSC pre-project review of
EC6 design
5. Conclusions
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
AECL’s Reactor Products
3
ACR-1000
• Cost competitiveness • Advanced Canadian licensing and
market position • Designed to benefit from
advanced design tools, modularization
CANDU 6 / EC6
• Proven design, incremental changes from operating reference plant
• Natural uranium • Unique fuel cycle abilities • Sized for grid flexibility
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
• Meet licensing requirements for a new build in Canada
• Meet international expectations for a new build internationally
• Benefit from CANDU design, construction and operational experience
4
Keeping the CANDU TraditionKeeping the CANDU Tradition…
ACR-1000 evolution from the successful CANDU 6
• Modular horizontal fuel channels
• Simple, economical fuel bundle
design
• Separate, low temperature and
pressure heavy water moderator
• Safety features: two independent
safety shutdown systems;
water-filled reactor vault
• On-power fuelling
• Reactor building access for on-power
maintenance
The most recent CANDU 6 plants
completed in 2002 and 2003. • Twin-unit, 728 MW each, in Qinshan Phase III,
China
• Built ahead of time and under budget
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Products and Technology – ACR-1000
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ACR-1000 has been designed to target larger grids and markets
requiring the highest power generation economies
Overview
• 1200 MW(e) Advanced CANDU Reactor
• Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel (~2.4%)
• Light-water coolant, heavy water moderator
Strengths
• CANDU technology as base
• Pre-licensing review by CNSC
• Economies of scale: competitive unit energy cost
• Gen III + safety and economical performance
• Large number of operating improvements
incorporated to achieve higher capacity factor
• Designed for modular construction Two-unit ACR-1000 plant - cutaway
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
Products and Technology – C6/EC6
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CANDU 6 and EC6 offer low risk profile based on evolutionary product design
and replication build dynamics
Overview
• 740 MW(e) Classic CANDU reactor
• Natural Uranium (NU) Fuel
• Heavy water coolant and moderator
Strengths
• Only proven medium sized reactor
• Proven high performer
• Outstanding construction record
• Unique fuel cycle capabilities
Two-unit EC6 plant
and calandria face
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
Products and Technology – Fuel Cycles
Recovered Uranium and Thorium are the focus of fuel cycle
development programs unique to CANDU
•“Flex fuel concept”
•On-going Thorium program with China
•Recent Chinese confirmation: Thorium use in EC6 “technically practical and feasible”
•RU consortium program (8 nations) led by AECL
•For ACR: MOX blend (PuO2 /UO2) RU + blend with U-235 Thorium
7 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
Regulatory Pre-Project Design
Review Objectives
• Are optional services provided by CNSC prior to legally
binding licensing
– assist in mitigating licensing risks and potential associated regulatory
review delays during licensing
– assess whether the design is, at an overall level, compliant with the
CNSC regulatory requirements
– assess whether the design meets the CNSC staff expectations for new
NPPs
– identify whether there are any potential fundamental barriers to
licensing the design
– assess adequacy of the technical documentation to be submitted in
preparation for construction licence application
8 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
Regulatory Requirements for New
Designs in Canada
• RD-series document examples
− RD-337, “Design of New Nuclear Power Plants”
− RD-346, “Site Evaluation for New Nuclear Power Plants”
− RD-310, “Safety Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants”
− RD-360, “Life Extension of Nuclear Power Plants”
• Guidance documents examples
G-144 - Trip Acceptance Criteria
INFO-0756, “Licensing Process for New Nuclear Power Plants
in Canada”
GD-369, “Licence Application Guide: Licence to Construct a
Nuclear Power Plant”, Draft
• CNSC Generic Action Items
Generated from CANDU operational experience – need to
address in new designs
9 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
International Expectations
• IAEA - NS-R-1
Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design, 2000
Compliance essential for international marketability
CNSC RD-337 based on NS-R-1
• WENRA (Western European Nuclear Regulators’
Association)
Provides a set of “harmonized” nuclear regulatory
requirements applicable in the European countries
• At high level, ACR-1000 and EC6 meet the NS-R-1
and WENRA expectations
10 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
CNSC Pre-Project Design Reviews
• CNSC offers pre-project review of proposed new
reactor designs
Does not constitute a license approval
Identifies and resolves potential licensing issues
• One to three Phases
Phase 1: Compliance with Regulatory Requirements
Phase 2: Identification of Potential Fundamental Barriers
Phase 3: Follow-up
• ACR-1000 has successfully completed Phases 1 & 2,
Phase 3 ongoing
• EC6 successfully completed Phase 1, Phase 2
ongoing, started April 1, 2010
11 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
CNSC Pre-Project Review:
Standard Focus Topics
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1. Defence-in-depth
2. Reactor physics
3. Fuel design
4. Reactor control system
5. Shutdown means
6. Emergency and long term
cooling
7. Containment
8. Severe Accidents
9. Safety analysis
10. Pressure boundary, seismic
and tornado protection
11. Fire protection
12. Radiation protection
13. Out-of-core criticality
14. Robustness and security
15. Safeguards
16. Design process and QA
in design and safety
analysis
17. Human factors
18. R & D
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
ACR-1000 Pre-Project Review Status
• CNSC pre-project review carried in three phases
–Phase 1: April – Dec 2008
– Objective: Determine compliance with Canadian regulations
–Phase 2: Oct 2008 – Aug 2009
– Objective: Determine if there are potential fundamental
barriers to licensing
– 17 focus topics, such as core physics, safety analysis, fuel,
severe accidents, QA, etc.
–Phase 3: Sep 2009 – June 2010
– Follow-up on a selected number of topics:
o To show progress from Phase 2
o To focus on new methods or approaches (e.g., that have
not been discussed with CNSC before)
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010 13
CNSC ACR-1000 Phase 2 Report
August 31, 2009
• Bottom line: “Based on the Phase 2 review, CNSC staff concludes that there are no
fundamental barriers to licensing the ACR-1000 design in Canada. It
should be noted that this is subject to the successful completion of
AECL’s planned activities, in particular those related to research and
development”.
• Report composed of Executive Summary (available on the web site
for public reading). Main report details the CNSC findings for each of
the 17 focus topics
www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/licenseesapplicants/powerplants/newapplicants/vendorp
reproject/status.cfm
• In each of the focus topics areas CNSC identified no potential
fundamental barriers
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010 14
CNSC EC6 Phase 1 Pre-Project Review
• Schedule
Started in 2009 April, completed March 31, 2010
• Approach
CNSC review covers 17 standard topics
Same as other design reviews for ACR-1000, LWRs
Same objectives as for ACR-1000, LWRs
• Phase 1 Report – April 1, 2010
“At an overall level the design intent is compliant with the CNSC
regulatory requirements and meets the expectations for new nuclear
power plant designs in Canada. This conclusion would be further
confirmed during a Phase 2 review when required information for open
specific technical items identified for each review topic will be fully
addressed. The CNSC staff anticipates that these items could be
brought to closure during a Phase 2 review”
15 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
CNSC EC6 Phase 2 Pre-Project Review
16
• Phase 2 pre-project review initiated in April 2010, expected
to be completed by March 2012
• The major deliverable for Phase 2 is an Interim Preliminary
Safety Analysis Report (IPSAR)
• Phase 2 to being conducted on the standard 17 focus
topics, including:
Severe accidents
Reactor core design (reactivity feedback coefficients: fuel
temperature and power)
Radiation doses, human factors, fire protection
Ability of reactor control system to handle Anticipated Operational
Occurrences
Seismic design
Etc.
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010
Conclusions
17
• AECL is a two-product company, featuring ACR-1000, light
water cooled, low enriched uranium fueled horizontal channel
reactor, and EC6, heavy water cooled and moderated, natural
uranium fueled horizontal channel reactor
• CANDU 6 has been successfully licensed internationally,
including recent life extension licensing for Point Lepreau plant
in Canada
• ACR-1000 and EC6 are designed to be licensed in Canada and
internationally
• CNSC pre-project reviews of ACR-1000 and EC6 have confirmed
at an overall level that these designs meet regulatory
requirements in Canada
• The pre-project review increases regulatory certainty, reduces
risk of licensing-related delays, and ultimately contributes to
public and environmental safety
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010