Passive heat removal in CANDU

The Three Mile Island accident spurred a world-wide interest in severe accidents. The initial reaction was to increase the preventative measures in existing designs, followed by development of predictive capabilities to improve the management of severe accidents. Recently, emphasis has been placed in new designs on mitigative measures which slow down or contain the progression of a severe accidents. U.S. requirements for Advanced Light Water Reactor designs must now: provide reactor cavity floor space to enhance debris spreading; provide a means to flood the reactor cavity to assist in the cooling process. The paper describes how CANDU Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) have severe accident prevention and mitigation inherent in the design; in particular, the U.S. severe accident requirements can be met without significant change to the design of current CANDUs. (author). 32 refs, 7 figs, 1 tab