Operating a nuclear power plant with a Candu reactor

Since 1982, the New Brunswick Power electricity utility has been operating a nuclear generating unit equipped with a Candu reactor of 680 MWe installed power in the east of Canada. The Candu reactors developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) are heavy water moderated pressure tube reactors with natural uranium as the fuel. In the course of 1995, the first unit of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Station (700 MWe) in Romania is to begin commercial operation. This would be the first power plant equipped with a Candu reactor to supply electricity into the power grid in Europe. This is reason enough to have a closer look at this Canadian development line; in the example discussed, important features of plant operation are the excellent plant behavior and high availability. Also countries other than Canada make use of this technology,such as India and (North) Korea. As of early 1995, 32 units with an aggregate installed power of 19,792 MWe were in operation, and another eleven with an aggregate 5375 MWe were under construction, worldwide. Since 1992, Point Lepreau has worked in close partnership with Cernavoda. There is a well organized exchange of experience in training plant operating crews, and the former Head of Plant Operation of Point Lepreau is now in charge of the Romanian plant. To attain high availability and safety as well as minimum radiation exposure, the management of New Brunswick Power has consistently emphasized the use of such tools as electronic control and surveillance, operations documentation, and teamwork among the operating crews.