or '''AECL''' is a
Canadian federal
Crown Corporation with the responsibility of managing Canada's national
Nuclear Energy research and development program, including the advancement and support of
CANDU reactor technology which was developed at AECL starting in the 1950s. AECL also provides a variety of maintenance, diagnostic, waste management, refurbishment, and other services to the nuclear industry.
AECL describes its mandate as follows:
- Managing the Canadian nuclear platform responsibly and cost effectively.
- Leveraging the technology base to deliver nuclear products and services to market.
AECL is also the vendor of CANDU technology, which it has exported worldwide. Throughout the
1960s -
2000s AECL marketed and built CANDU facilities in
India ,
South Korea ,
Argentina ,
Romania , and
China .
In addition, AECL manufactures ,
Canada , and is the world's largest supplier of Molybedenum-99 for diagnostic tests, and
Cobalt-60 for
Cancer therapy.
AECL is funded through a combination of federal government appropriations and commercial revenue.
AECL traces its heritage to the , approval was given by the federal government to begin with construction of the ZEEP (Zero Energy Experimental Pile) reactor at the
Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories near Chalk River,
Ontario , located on the
Ottawa River approximately 190 km northwest of
Ottawa .
On reactors, ZEEP having operated as a research reactor until the early
1970s .
In
1946 the Montreal research laboratory was closed and research was consolidated at Chalk River Laboratories. On
July 22 ,
1947 the NRX (National Research Experimental) reactor, the most powerful reactor in the world at the time, went critical and was "used successfully for producing radioisotopes, undertaking fuels and materials development work for
CANDU reactors, and providing neutrons for physics experiments."
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In
1952 AECL was formed by the government with a mandate to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
On
December 12 ,
1952 one of the world's first major reactor accidents occurred in the
NRX reactor at AECL's Chalk River Laboratories, when a combination of human and mechanical error led to a temporary loss of control over the reactor's power level. Undercooling of the fuel channels led to a partial
Meltdown . This caused a hydrogen-oxygen explosion inside the calandria. Several fuel bundles experienced melting and ruptured, rendering much of the core interior unusable. The reactor building was contaminated, as well as an area of the Chalk River site, and millions of gallons of radioactive water accumulated in the reactor basement. This water was pumped to a waste management area of the Laboratories and monitored. Hundreds of military personnel from Canada and the U.S. (including naval officer and later U.S. President, Lt.
James "Jimmy" Carter ) were employed in the cleanup and disposal of the reactor debris.
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The NRX was repaired, upgraded, and returned to service 14 months later and operated for another 40 years, finally being shut down in 1992. Throughout the 1950s the NRX was used by many researchers in the pioneering fields of
Neutron condensed matter physics, including Dr.
Bertram Brockhouse , who shared the
1994 Nobel Prize In Physics for his work in developing the neutron scattering techniques.
On
November 3 ,
1957 the
NRU (National Research Universal) reactor first went critical. This is a natural-uranium, heavy-water-moderated and heavy-water-cooled research reactor which is a world-renowned research facility, producing about 60% of the world's supply of molybdenum-99, the principle isotope used for nuclear medical diagnosis. Canada also pioneered use of Cobalt-60 for medical diagnosis in
1951 and currently the NRU reactor produces the medical-use Cobalt-60, while selected
CANDU reactors produce industrial-use Cobalt-60, comprising 85% of the world's supply.
On
May 24 ,
1958 the NRU suffered a major accident. A damaged uranium fuel rod caught fire and was torn in two as it was being removed from the core, due to inadequate cooling. The fire was extinguished, but not before releasing a sizeable quantity of radioactive combustion products that contaminated the interior of the reactor building and, to a lesser degree, an area of the surround laboratory site. Over 600 people were employed in the clean-up.
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A few men were over-exposed to radiation, but no direct injuries resulted from AECL's two accidents.
In
1954 AECL partnered with the
Hydro-Electric Power Commission Of Ontario to build Canada's first
Nuclear Power Plant at Rolphton, Ontario, which is 30km upstream from Chalk River. On
June 4 ,
1962 the NPD (
Nuclear Power Demonstration ) first reactor went critical to demonstrate the
CANDU concept, generating about 20 MWe. In
1963 , AECL established the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment (now
Whiteshell Laboratories ) in
Pinawa ,
Manitoba where an organic-cooled and organic-operated research reactor was built. Later work on developing a Slow Poke reactor, Thorium Fuel Cycle and a Proposal; for safe storage of Nuclear waste was carried out at this site
AECL built a larger CANDU prototype (200 MWe) at
Douglas Point on Lake Huron, first going critical on November 15, 1966.
In
1971 the first commercial
CANDU reactor,
Pickering A 1, began commercial operation. By
1973 the other 3 reactors of the A group at Pickering were online and constituted the most powerful nuclear facility in the world at that time.
On
May 18 1974 , India detonates a nuclear bomb made from plutonium manufactured by the CIRUS research reactor built by AECL in 1956, which was a commercial version of its NRX research reactor. In addition AECL built two power reactors in all in India based on the Douglas Point design, and many of India's other reactors are domestic variants of this design. The connection between India's nuclear weapons program and its CIRUS research reactor led to a severance of nuclear technological cooperation between Canada and India.
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In
1977 -
1978 the
Bruce A group went online and began commercial operation. In
1978 , Whiteshell Labs began research into fuel waste disposal.
Between
1983 -
1986 the Pickering B group went online and also in
1983 the single
CANDU reactor at
Point Lepreau began operation, as did the
Gentilly 2 CANDU reactor. Between
1984 -
1987 the Bruce B group began commercial operation and also in
1987 the CANDU design was ranked one of Canada's top-10 engineering achievements.
Between
1985 -
1987 a software bug in AECL's
Therac-25 medical accelerator caused massive overdoses of radiation on 6 different occasions, with resultant deaths and injuries. In
1987 the machine was found defective by the
FDA and recalled by AECL. The software had not been included in the original safety analysis of the machine.
Between
1990 -
1993 the 4
CANDU reactors at
Darlington went online and represent the most recent reactor construction in Canada.
In
1991 , AECL decided to spin-off its medical isotope production business under the name
Nordion International Inc. The unit was sold to
MDS Health Group and now operates under the name
MDS Nordion
With a contract signed in
1991 , AECL, in partnership with MDS Nordion, began construction of the
MAPLE dedicated isotope-production facility. Constructed on-site at AECL's
Chalk River Laboratories this facility will house two reactors and an isotope processing facility. Each reactor is designed to be able to produce at least 100% of the world's
Medical Isotopes , meaning that the second reactor will be used as a back-up to ensure an uninterupptable supply. Although slated to be commissioned in
2000 , construction and licensing delays have so far prevented the facility from opening (As of June, 2005).
In
2001 , AECL began tests at Chalk River Labs to determine the feasibility of using surplus MOX (mixed oxide) fuel from the
Russian and
U.S. defence programs (which contains plutonium) as a fuel in CANDU facilities.
Currently, AECL is developing the
Advanced CANDU reactor, or "ACR". This design is meant to improve upon the commercial CANDU 6 design in terms of capital cost and construction schedule, while maintaining the classic design and safety characteristics of the CANDU concept.
- Leveson, Nancy G.; Turner, Clark S. (July, 1993) An Investigation of the Therac-25 Accidents. ''Computer'' 26 (7), 18-41.
- Whitlock , Jeremy J., "The Canadian Nuclear FAQ" {Link without Title}
