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The Nuclear reNaissaNce
February 2013
3 things you didn’t know
about nuclear energy
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt froM MediApLANet to tHe NAtioNAL poSt
dr. patrick Moorefrom Greenpeace to nuclear supporter
CANdUCanada’s reactor technology
Addressing the misconceptions between canadians
and nuclear energy.
Canada’s nuClear Industry
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOSt2 · febrUAry 2013
But more than that, Canadians should know that nuclear technolo-gies contribute to sustaining our standard of living and quality of life.
Powering canada’s economyA 2011 CNA-SECOR study found that on a per-tonne-of-CO2–avoided basis, the federal government invests less in nuclear technologies than in coal, wind, oil & gas or biofuel technolo-gies in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Direct jobs created in ongoing
nuclear operations are highly skilled and highly paid, with average salaries of around $100,000. A 2012 Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters study shows that investments in refurbish-ing nuclear facilities will sustain ten thousand or more jobs during the 11-year refurbishment period, and thousands of operating jobs for dec-ades to come. Current investment plans across the industry, if realized, would grow the total number of sup-ported high-wage jobs by 40 percent.
leading the world in medicineCanada pioneered, and remains a world leader in, nuclear medicine, medical imaging, radiotherapeutics and sterilization — technologies that advance Canadian and global health. And in the manufacturing sector, nuclear science supports advanced materials development. Materi-als science is a key area for modern
manufacturing innovation, and thus a core source of productiv-ity advances that drive sus-tained gains in living stan-dards for Canadians.
Providing a voice in all nuclear sectorsCanada’s major pub-licly funded licensed nuclear facilities are distributed across the country and include Vancou-ver’s TRIUMF, Sas-katoon’s Canadian Light Source (CLS), the National Research Council’s Canadian Neutron Beam Centre (CNBC), and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Nuclear Laboratories (AECL
Labs), plus several univer-sities. The body of exper-
tise in these organiza-tions gives Canadians a knowledgeable voice in global standards-setting and policy-
making in areas such as nuclear
medicine, nuclear power, environ-mental manage-ment, global security and non-prolifera-tion.
canada, a nuclear powerhouseCanada has
some of the world’s most valuable uran-
ium deposits, and they nourish an industry that plans to double output in the next few years — one that is already a major industrial employer of Aboriginal people and a big invest-ment partner in our northern com-munities. As the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business recently wrote, “Member companies of the Canadian Nuclear Association create hundreds of long-term, meaningful jobs that let northerners and aborig-inal peoples make a living close to home. They train and educate their workers. They fund scholarships. They align and partner with local governments and community organ-izations.”
Nuclear — it’s not just affordable power., it’s a Canadian strategy for lower emissions, more innovation, a higher-knowledge economy, and better jobs.
Today, more than two thirds of the world’s popula-tion — some 4.6 billion people — use nuclear power to light and heat
their homes and to power their offices, factories and essential infrastructure. Some 3.5 billion people live in countries that have decided to develop more nuclear power capacity as part of their energy mix.
global demand for technologyThe drivers behind this are the same as the drivers for all growth in every source of energy that we currently use. Global demand for energy — and electricity in par-ticular — is growing at an extra-ordinary rate. This necessitates that governments and everyone with influence in the energy sec-tor makes real every option that will contribute to solving the energy trilemma.
Meeting the energy trilemmaI refer to the triple policy problem of setting up an energy system that is reliable enough for today’s cities, transport networks and manufac-
turing; is clean enough to protect our health and avoid impacting an already overstressed environment; and is affordable enough to lend these advantages without requiring special support. Nuclear power is unique in being the only source to meet all three of these requirements. It does this now as it has throughout its 55-year history — and as it will in the future.
stable, safe, and cleanThere is now a rush to use cheap natural gas in North America, and to use coal in Europe while the price for carbon dioxide emissions is on the floor. These moves make short term commercial sense, but should not be carried out without the awareness that economic fac-tors can change, with potentially dramatic effects for countries not wise enough to maintain a mix of sources. In contrast to the fluctuating economics of fos-sil fuels, uranium supply gives nuclear power predictable genera-tion costs. By investing in nuclear power, a country invests in a long-term future of stable power gen-eration on a large scale.
Take China as an example. It is urbanising, developing and manu-facturing at a rate never before
seen on Earth. And nuclear power’s role is to support these themes while conserving resources and helping avoid air pollution, which would otherwise surely be even more severe. The country is cur-rently constructing 29 large react-ors and cementing its place among the leaders of the industry. Mean-while, a range of other countries including Turkey, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and Poland will bring online their first react-ors in just a few short years.
renewing reactors worldwideOlder nuclear nations are also working to renew and expand
their fleets: France, Russia, the USA and the UK. And in the fastest developing countries, every new reactor will directly avoid the con-struction of a coal plant that would otherwise have an environmental impact counting some 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Given a nuclear power plant’s life-span of about 60 years, it is easy to see the huge environmental and climate benefits of rapidly expand-ing nuclear energy.
canada’s global impactCanada plays an important role in nuclear energy’s success, sup-plying a significant portion of the uranium as well as maintaining its status as one of the industry’s pioneering countries. It is a major supplier of life-saving medical isotopes and also an independent supplier of reactors, hardware and services. It is a testament to the country and its industry that Can-ada has achieved all this without compromising its values and com-mitment to high environmental and social standards.
challeNges
“the average lifespan for older nuclear plantsis approximately thirty years while newer plants can operate for up to sixty years.”
Plant decommissioning in canada An in depth look into the future of Canada’s nuclear plants
We recommend
pAGe 7
nuclear waste p. 5Addressing the misconceptions of nuclear waste in Canada.
Fukushima disaster p. 6the lessons we learned from the last nuclear incident.
Optimizing our investments in clean air, innovation and high-knowledge jobswhere does your electricity come from? too few canadians realize that nuclear power provides 15 percent of our electric power (and over 50 percent of ontario’s), or that its relative cost is very competitive in the long run when all costs are counted.
HeatHer Kleb
tHe NUCLeAr reNAiSSANCe2Nd editioN, febrUAry 2013
responsible for this issue:Publisher: dany [email protected]: Laura [email protected] contributors: Agneta rising, Heather Kleb, Joe rosengarten, Leonard mallet, michael Binder
Photo credit: All images are from iStock.com unless otherwise accredited.
Managing director: Joshua [email protected] Manager: maggie ritchie [email protected]
distributed within:national Post, February 2013This section was created by mediaplanet and did not involve the national Post or its editorial departments.
Mediaplanet’s business is to create new customers for our advertisers by providing readers with high quality editorial contentthat motivates them to act.
FoLLoW US on FAceBooK And TWITTer!www.facebook.com/Mediaplanetcawww.twitter.com/Mediaplanetca
the canadian nuclear industry
generates over $6.6
billion a year in econoMic
activity
Meeting demand: Today and tomorrow
Nuclear power plays a significant role in the world’s power supply — but it is set to contribute even more.
agneta risingdirector General, World Nuclear Association
agneta rising
Heather Kleb President and ceo (Acting), canadian nuclear Association
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOSt
challeNges
Optimizing our investments in clean air, innovation and high-knowledge jobs
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOSt4 · febrUAry 2013
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Nuclear energy and its applica-tions are all around us. From the more obvious examples, such as nuclear power and radiotherapy, to the lesser-known ones, such as industrial radiography and food irradiation, nuclear is part of our lives. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Canada’s sole regulator when it comes to nuclear, ensures stringent rules are in place to protect workers, people and the environment.
keeping us safeOur oversight of the nuclear industry starts right from the beginning, when uranium, which is used to produce nuclear fuel, is extracted from the ground. We make sure Canada’s uranium
mining and milling operations respect the environment and that workers and the public are protected from harmful levels of radiation.
Uranium is then processed to make nuclear fuel. We inspect the processing and fabrication facili-ties on a regular basis to verify that all activities comply with safety requirements and that the oper-ators provide regular and transpar-ent reporting on their activities.
Next, the fuel is shipped to nuclear power plants or to research facilities. The fuel is either used in nuclear reactors to generate electricity or in research react-ors to make isotopes or support research. These nuclear facilities are designed with multiple safety systems, which are regularly inspected and maintained. Work-ers in critical positions must go through several years of train-ing and be certified by the CNSC. We ensure plant operators have comprehensive emergency man-agement and fire protection plans and that their staff are trained for handling emergencies.
strictly regulatedNuclear substances and radia-tion devices are used for medical, industrial and commercial appli-cations, as well as for academic and research purposes. One example is food irradiation, which removes harmful agents to prevent food poisoning and spoilage. Non-destructive testing is another example, this is when nuclear technology is used to detect flaws in manufactured goods such as
aircraft propellers, and oil and gas pipelines.
One of the most commonly known nuclear substances are medical isotopes. Canada produces a large portion of the world’s sup-ply of medical isotopes for diag-nosis and treatment of diseases, which helps more than 27 million people each year in 80 different countries. We regulate the facili-ties that produce isotopes.
We also have strict regula-
tions to make sure that pack-aging and transportation of fuel and other nuclear materials are conducted safely, from the beginning to the end of their life cycle.
Managing wasteEventually, nuclear materials are no longer useful. This marks the end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Nuclear wastes are securely man-aged in robust containers and storage facilities that keep materi-als secure and separate from the environment.
As we’ve shown, nuclear is part of our everyday life. We are there to regulate all nuclear activities in Canada — protecting people and the environment. We will never compromise safety.
nUcLeAr SAFeTy
iNsighT
MicHael binder
Michael binderPresident, canadian nuclear Safety commission
SAFeTy noTeS
■■ We ensure uranium mining com-panies set aside significant funds to cover all the costs associated with returning the site to its original state after the facility closes.
■■ a stringent international system of safeguards is in place to implement canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
■■ Our inspectors are onsite at every nuclear power plant operating in canada to ensure the highest level of safety.
■■ We ensure all licensed activ-ities conducted by persons using,
possessing, disposing or transporting nuclear substances and radiation devices are done in a safe and com-pliant manner.
■■ We license the safe use of nuclear substances in the health sector, ensuring that nuclear medical equip-ment meets national and international standards.
■■ We ensure that companies using nuclear technology develop and maintain a strong safety culture.
■■ Nuclear waste and other materials are packaged and transported in con-tainers certified by the cNsc.
canada’s nuclear Power
oPerations are aMong
the saFest in the world
the nuclear sector is one of the only industries in canada that has a single regulator controlling all its safety-related activities.
Nuclear Part of everyday life
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOStAN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOSt febrUAry 2013 · 5
Nuclear power plants have a limited timespan in which they can operate with economic feasibility. The aver-age lifespan for older nuclear plants is approximately thirty years while newer plants can operate for up to sixty years. When this time is up, the nuclear plant ceases to operate and is decommissioned, a process whereby any radioactive material is removed and the plant it dismantled. In some cases the plant is decontaminated and used for other purposes. Decommis-sioning has become high-tech and highly lucrative for the contractor who wins the rights to decommission a nuclear power plant.
racing for canadian contractsMany of Canada’s nuclear power plants are due to shut down in the near future because of their age and condition. This means that decom-missioning, regeneration or environ-mental restoration are on the horizon for many of them and a scramble for decommissioning contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars has begun already.
Prospective decommissioning contractors are free to pitch ideas for new techniques and technologies for dismantling and decontaminating a plant although all new methods must be approved and licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) before being put into oper-ation. The competition for decom-missioning contracts is strong so any fresh piece of research or develop-ment that can improve cost effective-ness and safety is sure to be of benefit to both the power plant operator and the decommissioning licensee.
early preparation for decommissioning costsThe costs associated with the decom-mission or regeneration of a power plant are solely the responsibility of the owner or operator of the plant and, under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, operators are required to have complete and approved decom-missioning plans in place for their nuclear power plant at all times.
The cost of decommissioning is fac-tored into the price of nuclear energy for the consumer. Because of this, the CNSC has the power to request
financial guarantees, ensuring that the funds are in place for decommis-sioning or environmental restoration so that future generations will not be burdened with the incalculable cost of cleaning up retired nuclear power plants.
decommissioning, a major part of our economyOperating under regulations that are just as strict as the ones followed by nuclear power plant operators, decommissioning licensees have a massive part to play in maintaining Canada’s reputation as a conscien-tious and forward thinking nuclear leader. They have the opportunity to support and strengthen the robust Canadian nuclear economy, as was indicated in a 2010 report released by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. This report explained that the restoration of the nuclear power plants in Darlington and Bruce would create twenty five thousand jobs over the next ten years, pumping an extra five billion dollars into Ontario’s annual economy.
InevITABLe FUTUre
iNsighT
joe rosengarten
although nuclear waste can be harmful to humans and the environment, when managed carefully and stored in the appropriate facilities, the risk of a radioactive leak is very small.
Canada has been generating electricity using nuclear power for almost fifty years and is con-sidered to be a world leader in nuclear technology.
“In that time, Ontario Power Generation, Hydro Quebec and New Brunswick Power have accumulated just under two and a half million used CANDU fuel bundles. All of them are fully accounted for and are currently safely stored in licensed facilities at the nuclear generating stations where they were produced. These storage practices are considered interim and are not meant to be permanent,” explained Mike Kri-zanc, Communications Manager at Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).
government safety regulationsStorage facilities for radioactive waste must conform to all of the regulations set out by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), and be licensed and open to regular inspections.
Canada has developed a plan called Adaptive Phased Manage-ment to deal with its used nuclear fuel over the long term. “Technic-
ally, the goal is to contain and iso-late all of Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a deep geological reposi-tory relying on both engineered barriers and the surrounding geology,” Krizanc said.
contributing to the communitiesThe NWMO is in conversation with twenty-one communities across Ontario and Saskatchewan, which have expressed interest in learning about the prospect of the repository being built in their area. “There can be no comprom-ise on the ability of a host site to safely contain and isolate used nuclear fuel for a very long period of time, essentially indefinitely. Beyond ensuring safety, the plan must be implemented in a way that contributes to the long-term well-being or quality of life of the community and region,” said Krizanc.
There is no fixed timeframe for implementing Adaptive Phased Management. It is not a pro-cess that either the NWMO or potential host communities are prepared to rush. Safety and the well being of the host commun-ity and the surrounding region are the most important factors in properly implementing the long-term plan for safely managing Canada’s used nuclear fuel. “The NWMO is committed to taking the time that is necessary to get it right. For planning purposes, the organization expects it could take seven to ten years to iden-tify an informed and willing host community for a repository,” said Krizanc. “The earliest the facil-ity could be operational is 2035,” he added.
mAnAgIng nUcLeAr WASTe
joe rosengarten
Mike krizanccommunications manager, nuclear Waste management organization (nWmo)
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decommissioning Canadian plants
tions to make sure that pack-aging and transportation of fuel and other nuclear materials are conducted safely, from the beginning to the end of their life cycle.
Managing wasteEventually, nuclear materials are no longer useful. This marks the end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Nuclear wastes are securely man-aged in robust containers and storage facilities that keep materi-als secure and separate from the environment.
As we’ve shown, nuclear is part of our everyday life. We are there to regulate all nuclear activities in Canada — protecting people and the environment. We will never compromise safety.
the nuclear sector is one of the only industries in canada that has a single regulator controlling all its safety-related activities.
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOSt6 · febrUAry 2013
The nuclear industry is a learning industry, constantly adapting to enhance safety.
We learned a lot from the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents, which happened because of events inside the plants. And we developed very effect-ive tools to address and manage these kinds of issues.
Fukushima, on the other hand, has taught us to put added emphasis on events caused from outside the plant like natural disasters. It reinforced and improved the industry’s focus on externally-caused situations that we could not envision when we designed the plants.
assessing vulnerabilitiesSoon after the Fukushima crisis started, OPG, like nuclear operators world-wide, launched a thorough assessment of our own systems and
operations to confirm their safety in extraordinary event situations. We looked at the ability of our plants to withstand any potential natural dis-asters that might occur in Ontario’s environment and even ones we would never expect here. We concluded that our nuclear plants are safe and our sys-tems are robust enough to withstand significant emergencies. But we didn’t stop there. We identified opportunities where we can improve and we imple-mented those improvements.
The bottom line is this: our design is robust for very low probability external events, and we are now more prepared than ever to address even the most unlikely and improb-able events that could conceivably affect our nuclear plants — including flooding, earthquakes and the emer-gencies they create.
The Canadian nuclear energy indus-try has an excellent safety track rec-ord dating back over the past 50 years. As always, we remain committed to addressing and learning from both the industry’s successes as well as its crises.
what was the tipping point that brought you from being the anti-nuclear
co-founder of greenpeace to a supporter of the nuclear industry?During the mid-nineties, ten years after I left Greenpeace for other reasons, I was considering what might be the most realistic path to reducing dependence on fossil fuels for generating electricity. It became clear to me that nuclear energy, along with hydroelec-tric energy, was the most cost-effective, reliable, clean, and safe technology to accomplish this goal. The safety record of nuclear is very impressive despite the rhetoric to the contrary. No one died from radiation at Fukushima, and no one will. We made a big mistake in the early years of the environmental movement, lump-ing nuclear energy in with nuclear weapons. Like nuclear medicine, nuclear energy is a very beneficial use of nuclear technology.
why should canadians care about gaining a better understanding of
the nuclear industry?Nuclear plants generate 15 percent of Canada’s electricity. Canada is very fortunate to have such large reserves of hydroelectric power, which pro-vides 60 percent of our electricity. Nuclear energy will be the most important source of energy when fossil fuels become scarce. There is enough nuclear fuel for thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years. The more people learn the facts about nuclear energy the more they sup-port its use. The opposition to nuclear energy is often based on an emo-tional fear of radiation, which is not justified by the facts. Nuclear energy has proven to be one of our safest technologies. A natural gas explosion in Mexico recently killed 37 people. No one is dying from nuclear energy.
what would you say is the largest misconception about nuclear energy that
faces the general public?There is a misconception that nuclear energy is dangerous when it is actually safer than all the large-
scale energy technologies. No one was killed or injured by radiation at either Three Mile Island or Fuku-shima. Chernobyl, a flawed design that will never be built again, killed only 56 people, most of whom died fighting the fire. The Russians did not tell the people around Cher-nobyl that there was an accident so they were irradiated for several days, with no warning to avoid milk and no iodine tablets. No other nuclear accident has caused death to civilians. It is safer to work in a nuclear plant than in virtually any other industry.
so many canadians fear everything nuclear, what would you tell
people to put them at ease with the whole industry?I strongly support hydroelectric energy even though it is far more dangerous than nuclear energy. A hydroelectric dam burst in China in 1975, killing 125,000 people. Just three years ago a hydroelectric accident in Russia killed 75 people, more than in the entire 60-year history of nuclear energy. If you discount the exceptional situation at Chernobyl, no member of the public has been killed or injured by a nuclear plant.
what do you think our government can do to make the public
perception of the nuclear industry more positive?More people should be given the opportunity to tour a nuclear plant. Seeing is believing. There should also be more accessible informa-tion, describing how a nuclear plant works, how safe it is to work in one, how small the radiation exposure is in the plant, never
mind beyond the plant’s boundary where it is infinitesimally low. It is a fact that the closer people live to a nuclear plant, the higher the public support for nuclear energy.
what do you see for the future energy needs, where do you see it going, and
what steps do we need to take to achieve our ultimate goal?There are four main categories of energy use: transportation, elec-tricity production, infrastructure (buildings) and industry. Trans-portation will continue to depend on oil for the foreseeable future. If a better battery is invented it might be possible to convert pas-senger cars and small delivery vehicles to electricity produced by hydroelectric and nuclear. Some heavy transport could use biofuels. Infrastructure is heavily depend-ent on natural gas. More ground source heat pumps, operating on electricity, could change that. Industry relies on fossil fuels but could replace them with nuclear energy. All this means that we will need more clean electricity if we have any chance to radically reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Nuclear and hydroelectric energy are the two best technologies to achieve this goal. The third choice would be natural gas, hopefully gradually eliminating coal as a fuel for electricity generation. Coal should be conserved to produce liquid fuel for transportation when oil becomes scarce.
iNsPiraTiON
Hitachi Power Systems Canada Ltd.
www.hitachi-hpsca.ca
On April 1, 2012, the integration of Hitachi Canada Ltd. and Hitachi Canadian Industries Ltd. established Hitachi Power Systems Canada Ltd. (HPSCA).
With offi ces in Mississauga, ON, Calgary, AB and Saskatoon, SK, HPSCA provides thermal, hydro and nuclear power systems (including turbines, generators, power boilers, AQCS packages and carbon capture systems), distributed control systems (DCS), Smart Grid/Smart City solutions and industrial equipment (including large compressors and pumps).
HPSCA also supports the supply of Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) medical systems.
there are 34 candu nuclear
reactors worldwide,
and 22 in canada
toM MitcHell
from Co-founder of Greenpeace to nuclear supporter
leonard Mallet
“the more people learn the facts about nuclear energy the morethey support its use.”Patrick Moore Ph.d. Greenpeace Co-founder, independent environmentalist
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LeSSonS From THe FUKUSHImA dISASTer
tom MitchellPresident and ceo, ontario Power generation
AN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOStAN iNdepeNdeNt SUppLeMeNt by MediApLANet tO tHe NAtiONAL pOSt febrUAry 2013 · 7
Canada’s nuclear energy industry util-izes some of the country’s best minds in its constant search for improved fuel cycle efficiency. Canada has been at the forefront of nuclear fuel research for decades and the CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) nuclear reactor design has been exported to six coun-tries across the world.
recycling fuelAround fifteen percent of Canada’s elec-tricity is generated by CANDU nuclear reactors, which use heavy water (Deu-terium Oxide D2O) as their coolant and moderator. The unique intricacies of the CANDU design allow the reactors to use uranium in its natural state (Natural Uranium, or NU), without needing to enrich the uranium in the fissile iso-tope, uranium-235, that readily produ-ces fission energy. CANDU reactors have operated for decades using NU fuel, but they can also be adapted to use recycled fuel products from other reactors, or use brand-new fuels such as thorium.
“There are many advantages of using recycled nuclear fuel,” said Ron Oberth, President of Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries. Oberth continued, “Using spent fuel to extract more energy is environmentally sound, and it’s also cost effective. Just like other types of recycling, using recycled nuclear fuel reduces the overall impact on the environment. “
Candu Energy has been working alongside China National Nuclear Cor-poration (CNNC) to further develop the use of advanced fuels. “We signed an agreement with CNNC to make slight modifications in the CANDU reactors in China, this will mean that recycled uranium can be fully used in these reactors,” said Dr. Sermet Kuran, Direc-tor of Advanced Fuel Cycle Reactor Tech-nology and Fuel Cycles.
Candu Energy is now embarking on the first full-scale introduction of alternative fuels, starting with ‘natural uranium equivalent’ (NUE), composed of recycled and depleted uranium blended together as a fuel equivalent to natural uranium, but actually con-sisting of two waste products.
Jerry Hopwood, Vice President, Mar-keting and Product Development at Candu Energy, explained that Canada’s research and development programs have been working hard to find alterna-tives to today’s standard fuels, he said, “For years we’ve been looking into the performance and disposal of alternative fuels. Important research has already been done, particularly here in Canada, and now we’re moving into commer-cialization.”
opportunities with thoriumThe research conducted on advanced fuel cycles has led physicists to thorium, a naturally occurring element that is in far more abundance than uranium in the earth’s core. “Thorium is not natur-ally fissile though, it needs to be turned into an energy-producing fuel inside the nuclear reactor core,” explained Dr. Ala Alizadeh, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Business Development at Candu Energy. Dr. Alizadeh continued, “Once this is done, it does have the potential to be a self- breeder though, to generate its own feed stock. It could
become self-sustaining and be part of the ultimate advanced fuel cycle.”
Future of nuclear energyResearch into advanced fuel cycles today could lead to self-sustaining nuclear energy in the future. The imple-mentation of NUE has shown that with the right research and development, improvements are possible. “To advance further we need to unlock the potential of the total fissile inventory of the world, that is our aim,” concluded Dr. Alizadeh.
iNsPiraTiON
leonard Mallet
REO
Uranium Mine
NaturalUranium
Recovered
RecoveredUranium
DepletedUranium
DepletedUranium
Actinides
ThoriumCycle
Storage
NUE
U-233
Heavy Element+
MOX
Plutonium
Low EnrichedUranium
NaturalUranium
EnrichedUranium
Spent Fuel
Enrichment
Thorium Mine+
Fissile
Reprocessing
Reprocessing
Storage
Uranium
NeWs
advanced Fuel cyclediagram of the nuclear fuel cycle with candu nuclear reactor. Photo: candu energy inc.
caNDu nuclear reactors and advanced fuels
joe rosengarten
ala alizadehSenior vice President, marketing and Business development, candu energy
ron oberth President, organization of canadian nuclear Industries
sermet kuran director of Advanced Fuel cycle reactor Technology and Fuel cycles, candu energy
Jerry hopwood vice President, marketing and Product development, candu energy
AdvAnced FUeLS
canadian technology 1. Qinshan nuclear Power Plant, in Qinshan, china. the first power plant in china to use candu reactors from canada.2. Fuel bundle developed by atomic energy of canada ltd. used in candu nuclear reactors. Photo: candu energy inc.
“There are many advantages of using recycled nuclear
fuel. Using spent fuel to extract more energy is
environmentally sound, and it’s also cost effective.”
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[ [ron oberth president, organization of Canadian Nuclear industries
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