Federal regulator approves Canada's first small modular reactor

[OnlinePoker]

The federal nuclear safety regulator has authorized construction of an American small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, Ont., a crucial milestone for a project that has garnered worldwide attention.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission granted the license to Ontario Power Generation on Friday for its Darlington New Nuclear Project. OPG has said it will finish building the first 327-megawatt reactor by the end of 2028, and begin supplying electricity to the province’s grid the following year. The reactor’s cost has not been disclosed publicly, but estimates suggest it could be several billion dollars.

“We now await the go-ahead from the Ontario government to proceed,” said OPG spokesperson Neal Kelly.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-federal-regulator-approves-canadas-first-small-modular-reactor/

[NNadir]

1. Chris Keefer is going ballistic over this.

He argues that since the United States is run by a thug, Canada should use its endogenous nuclear infrastructure, specifically the CANDU, for its own use.

I agree.

The world can certainly use more CANDU infrastructure. The CANDU is the best thermal spectrum reactor in the world.

[applegrove]

2. And the Candu can use spent fuel rods to make power.

[NNadir]

3. This is true. However from my perspective would be to isolate plutonium from used fuel, and make a ternary fuel...

...with plutonium, depleted uranium (or "once through" CANDU uranium) and thorium to achieve very high burn ups. The resultant fuel would effectively be enriched with ²³³U, ²³⁴U, and ²³⁵U, along with traces of ²³²U, as well as significant isotopically complex plutonium.

These resultant used fuels would represent a resource to run the rest of the world's thermal reactors without need for enrichment plants.

A drawback to CANDUs using natural uranium is low fuel utilization, typical burnups of considerably less than 10K MWd/ton, whereas other thermal reactors have burnups of 40-50 K MWd/ton for the best thermal reactors. Ultimately this means more mines, less plutonium.

A CANDU with a ternary fuel containing thorium might achieve burnups as high as 60K MWd/ton, perhaps even more, and with reprocessing, the uranium removed from the fuel would be directly usable in many other thermal reactors, perhaps even requiring dilution with depleted uranium stocks which are readily available. This could go a long way to putting the enrichment business - currently centered in Russia - out of business.

If and when some team actually makes a viable fusion reactor - something I don't actually expect in my lifetime - CANDU's will represent the world supply of tritium. As of now, there isn't enough tritium on the planet to run a full power fusion reactor for a year.

[applegrove]

4. Wow. You know your stuff. I can't compute.