CANDU 6 technical summary

CANDU nuclear power stations have consistently proven to be competitive with other types of nuclear power plants, while offering unique advantages to their operators. Some of the design features and unique characteristics of the CANDU reactor are: a reactor core comprising several hundred small diameter fuel channels rather than one huge pressure vessel; heavy water (D2O) for moderator and coolant; separate low pressure moderator and high pressure fuel cooling systems; on-power refuelling; reactivity devices that are located in the cool low pressure moderator, and not subjected to high temperatures or pressures; natural uranium fuel or other low fissile content fuel; reduced consequences from accidental reactivity fluctuations; excess reactivity available from the fuel is small and the relatively long lifetime of prompt neutrons in the reactor precludes rapid changes in power levels; two fully capable safety shutdown systems, independent from each other and the reactor regulating system. This Technical Summary provides an overview of the CANDU 6 nuclear power system. All CANDU 6 power plants are fundamentally the same, although there are differences in detail: these largely result from different site conditions, and from improvements made in the newer designs. The evolution of CANDU 6 is illustrated in the inside back cover. (author)