Reactor performance comparisons highlight CANDU

To the end of 1984, two CANDU nuclear reactors, Ontario's Bruce 4 and Bruce 3, once again led the Western world in lifetime performance, as measured by the cumulative load factor. Four CANDU units took places in the list of top lifetime performers. In the annual performance for 1984, CANDU units held three of the top ten positions, with Bruce 4 in number one position, and Bruce 1 following as number two. The four unit Bruce station had an annual average load factor of about 93.8 percent. Pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) as a whole led the field in terms of reactor type, with PHWRs averaging a 70.4 percent weighted cumulative load factor, with pressurized water reactors following at 59.4 percent, boiling water reactors at 58.2 percent and advanced gas-cooled reactors with 28.0 percent