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1 Introduction
CANDU (a registered trademark) is an acronym for "Canada Deuterium Uranium". It is a pressurized-heavy-water; natural-uranium power reactor designed first in the late 1950s by a consortium of Canadian government and private industry. All power reactors in Canada are of the CANDU type.
1.1 Need for a CANDU type reactor
The interest in heavy-water reactors in Canada dates back to World War II, when the country was deeply involved in HWR (Heavy Water Reactor) research for military purposes. After the war, the Canadians immediately recognized the unique advantages of heavy-water reactors. Since an HWR can be fueled with natural uranium, the large resources of uranium known to exist in Canada could be used directly. This made it unnecessary for the country to construct costly uranium enrichment plants or to depend on the United States or any other nation for enriched fuel. The Canadians also recognized that the gas-cooled, graphite-moderated reactors of the type being built in Great Britain had to be quite large if fueled with natural uranium. [1]
1.2 CANDU Designer
The CANDU designer is AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited), a federal crown corporation. AECL is a global nuclear technology and engineering company that designs and develops the CANDU nuclear power reactor [2]. Over 150 private companies in Canada supply components for the CANDU system. AECL takes the lead role in developing the markets and projects, while drawing in Canadian and offshore partners. AECL maintains the safety, design and licensing R&D that ensure safe and economic operation of CANDU reactors. In general, AECL acts as project integrator; most of the revenues flow to private industry.
2 Distinguishing characteristics of CANDU reactor
CANDU is a heavy water moderated and cooled, natural uranium fueled, and horizontal pressure tube reactor. The moderator that surrounds the fuel channels, slows down neutrons to permit...