Chalk River NRU Crisis
2009 Edition
Part 6 - 1964
Atomic Energy
Highlights of nuclear activities in Canada during 1963 include
greatly increased interest around the world in the Canadian approach to
nuclear power, the putting into operation of a new nuclear research
centre in Manitoba, steady progress in the construction of a large
nuclear power station, and preparations for the installation of a new
and more powerful particle accelerator.
The Douglas Point Nuclear Power Station, with its reactor known as
CANDU, is nearing completion at a site on the eastern shore of Lake
Huron. Canada's first large-scale nuclear power plant, it will have an
electrical output of 200,000 kilowatts when it goes into commercial
service in 1965. Douglas Point is being built as a co-operative project
of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Ontario Hydro.
Photo from 1960
The prototype for large nuclear generating stations, the Nuclear Power
Demonstration Station (NPD), has been put through a series of
successful demonstration runs since the plant went into operation in
1962 and attained its full power output of 20,000 kilowatts. The NPD
station, located about 16 miles up the Ottawa River from the Chalk
River Nuclear Laboratories, is a joint project of Atomic Energy of
Canada Limited, Ontario Hydro and Canadian General Electric Company
Limited.
Although the CANDU-type reactor shows great promise, it represents only
one stage in the evolution of power reactor technology, and an
appreciable effort is being devoted to more advanced systems which
would have a higher efficiency than CANDU, and would be suitable in
even larger sizes. With the demand for electricity in Ontario currently
growing at more than 200,000 kilowatts capacity per year, these very
high power reactors will fill a definite need by the time they are
developed, and as much as 500,000 electrical kilowatts from on reactor
may be desirable.
Three government organizations have basic responsibilities for Canada's
atomic energy activities: the Atomic Energy Control Board, responsible
for all regulatory matters concerning work in the nuclear field;
Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited, a crown company with a double
function as producer of uranium and as the Government's agent for
buying uranium from private mining companies; and Atomic Energy of
Canada Limited (AECL), a crown company concerned with nuclear research
and development, the design and development of power reactors, and the
production of radioactive isotopes and associated equipment.
The Atomic Energy Control Board, a five-man body including the
presidents of the two crown companies, was set up in 1945 principally
to control the distribution of fissile and other radioactive material.
The activities of the Board have increased with the expansion of the
Canadian nuclear program and now include all regulatory matters such
as the licensing of reactors and financial assistance to Canadian
universities engaged in nuclear studies.
Uranium continues to play an important role in the Canadian economy and
is high on the list of export commodities. However, after reaching a
maximum of 15,900 tons of uranium oxide in 1959, deliveries have since
fallen steadily, reflecting the fall in demand from Canada's main
customer, the United States.
In contrast to that of the uranium industry, the picture of AECL
activities is much brighter and it now seems that, in certain areas,
economic nuclear power generation will be achieved in Canada within
relatively few years. From the diverse reactor types that can be
conceived for power generation, AECL chose the heavy-water-moderated,
natural-uranium reactor as being the most suitable under Canadian
conditions. The principal reason for this choice is that heavy water
permits a very high burn-up of the fuel in a single pass through the
reactor; this, combined with the low cost of natural uranium, results
in a very low total fuel cost. In fact, the Canadian nuclear power
program is unique in that it aims for such a high burn-up that used
fuel elements may be discarded as waste rather than put through
expensive recovery processes for extraction of plutonium and unburned
uranium. Of course, heavy-water natural-uranium reactors do have
disadvantages, not the least being their high capital cost. However, in
Ontario, where the publicly owned utility (the Hydro-Electric Power
Commission of Ontario) can borrow money at low interest rates, and
where large base-load stations are required, the component of power
cost due to capital is tolerable. Under these special circumstances, it
is probable that a second CANDU type reactor, incorporating capital
economies resulting from the experience gained in the construction of
the first, would generate electricity at a cost competitive with
conventional stations.
In the international field, close ties are kept with the United States
Atomic Energy Commission (USAEC) and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy
Authority (UKAEA), both of which have representatives permanently at
Chalk River. In 1963 AECL and the UKAEA concluded an agreement to
extend their collaboration on research and development concerned with
heavy-water-moderated, water-cooled reactors and their fuel. The
agreement reflects increased interest in heavy water reactors in
Britain, where a heavy water power reactor is now being built. An
agreement with the United States provides for the free exchange of all
technical data on heavy-water-moderated reactors and commits the USAEC
to spend $5,000,000 in the United States on research and development
related to reactors of Canadian design. More or less formal
collaboration has also been established with the International Atomic
Energy Agency, the European Nuclear Energy Agency, and with Euratom, as
well as with France, India, Japan, Pakistan, Sweden, Switzerland and
West Germany.
AECL operates Canada's main atomic research and development centre at
Chalk River, Ontario, and in 1963 put into operation a second centre on
the shores of the Winnipeg River, 65 miles northeast of Winnipeg,
Manitoba. This centre, known as the Whiteshell Nuclear Research
Establishment, has various laboratories which concentrate on work in
the fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, fuel development,
metallurgy and engineering studies - all directed toward the development
of economic nuclear power. AECL has a Head Office and a Commercial
Products Division in Ottawa and a Nuclear Power Plant Division in
Toronto.
At Chalk River there are now five experimental reactors - ZEEP, NRX,
NRU, PTR and ZED-2. The number of employees is about 2,400 of whom over
400 are university graduates.
Rolphton
The RCMP would like a copy of you 8mm film ... tovarich.
Th 42,000-kw. (thermal) NRX research reactor went into operation in
1947 and the 200,000-kw. (thermal) NRU research reactor was put into
service in 1957. Both reactors have been used for nuclear power
experiments, for fundamental research, for the making of radioactive
isotopes, and for the production of plutonium from natural uranium.
With the future market for plutonium uncertain, it was decided to cease
plutonium production in NRU and the reactor was shut down in November
1963 to replace natural uranium fuel rods with enriched uranium fuel
rods. While this change reduces the thermal power (heat output) to
60,000 kw., the density of neutrons (flux) remains high for experiments
and for isotope production.
The three 100-watt research reactors, ZEEP, ZED-2 AND PTR, are used for
different purposes such as testing fuel rod arrangements for power
reactors, determining the reactivity of fuel samples and studying the
neutron-absorbing properties of materials.
In the many laboratories at Chalk River fundamental and applied
research and development are carried out in biology, medicine, physics,
metallurgy, chemistry and engineering. In addition to the research
reactors, other large research machines such as a 10,000,000 electron
volt Tandem Accelerator, a 3,000,000 volt Van de Graaff Generator and a
large Beta Ray Spectrometer have been in use. The Tandem Accelerator is
being dismantled to make way for a new 20,000 electron volt accelerator
known as the MP Tandem Van de Graaff. This new machine will enable
physicists to obtain new data on the arrangements of particles in atomic
nuclei and on the forces which bind them together.
In recent years a great technological advance has been based on the
properties of nearly perfect crystals with controlled impurities, of
which the transistor is the best know example. Studies of the energy
changes of very-low-energy neutrons have greatly extended the knowledge
of similar processes in solids and liquids; pioneer work in this field
has been carried out at AECL.
Canada was one of the pioneers in the application of radioactive
isotopes in research, medicine, agriculture and industry. The
Commercial Products Division processes and sells radioactive isotopes
produced in the Chalk River reactors and also develops new uses for
isotopes and equipment for their application. The division manufactures
six models of cobalt-60 beam therapy units. Over 300 of these
cancer treatment units have been installed in clinics and hospitals in
40 countries. A portable facility is also available for the gamma
irradiation of material and has been designed for industrial use.
