Opportunities for CANDU for the Alberta oil sands

The Alberta oil-sands bitumen deposits comprise one of the largest sources of hydrocarbon in the world, and have emerged as the fastest-growing, soon to be dominant, source of crude oil in Canada. Although the oil industry has made great strides in improving the effectiveness of gathering this resource, the main challenge that remains is the large quantity of energy needed in the process of extracting the oil and upgrading it to commercial levels. However, over the past few years, developments in oil-sands extraction technology, and developments in CANDU technology through the advanced CANDU reactor, (ACR(TM)), have converged so that a practical, economical match of nuclear energy to the oil sands is now available. This paper describes recent studies by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and by the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) to look at the adaptation of the ACR design for use in the oil sands, in particular with regard to economic viability. Issues raised in these studies are discussed, along with priorities for further work.