AECL teams with NSERC and NRCan to develop future nuclear energy systems

4th generation nuclear looks beyond 2025

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) is developing technologies aimed at extending the commercial viability of its CANDU reactors through a collaborative agreement with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The MOU is part of the Canadian National Program on Generation IV Energy Technologies — also known as the Gen IV National Program — that was struck in 2006 to allow Canada to participate the Generation IV International Forum (GIF).

The GIF has identified six creator types that will meet eight goals (see chart) including significant improvements in safety and reduced energy consumption.

The first competition under Canada's Gen IV National Program is now complete with several universities and research institutes receiving one-to-three-year funding allocations to develop technologies for two of the six reactor types being pursued under the GIF. Canadian researchers will focus on technologies underpinning Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactors (SCWR) and Very High-Temperature Reactors. Research will also be conducted that considers non-electricity applications for nuclear including hydrogen production.

Funding for the Gen IV National Program provides $3 million over three years with equal contributions from NRCan and NSERC. NRCan is the lead department on the program and funding flows through NSERC's Collaborative Research and Development Grants program. Each research project must be co-led by an AECL and an academic researcher, ostensibly to encourage the involvement of the Canadian nuclear industry in academic research. Gen IV reactors are intended to succeed Gen III water-cooled reactors some time after 2025.

Although the competition results have not been officially released, several institutions have announced their success under GIF, including the Univ of Ottawa and TRIUMF. Drs Stavros Tavoularius and Dionysius Groeneveld — professors at the U of O's department of mechanical engineering — were awarded $775,000 over three years to develop an experimental facility for supercritical heat transfer studies in support of SCWR.

At TRIUMF, three researchers — Dr Craig Stuart (AECL), Dr Paul Percival (Simon Fraser Univ) and Dr Khashayar Ghandi (Mount Allison Univ) — will share $300,000 over three years to conduct research in support of SCWR. AECL is in the early stages of designing an SCWR reactor as part of the GIF initiative.

The MOU partners declined to speak to RE$EARCH MONEY for this story pending the official announcement of competition results in the coming weeks but NRCan did issue a short statement.

"This program will support university-based researchers from across the country, working in collaboration with AECL scientists in selected areas of Canadian expertise, particularly materials, chemistry and thermalhydraulics and safety."

In a Feb/07 presentation to the Canadian Nuclear Association, AECL senior VP and chief technology officer Dr David Torgerson outlined the benefits of participating in the Generation IV Program. He described it as visionary and said the program will drive innovation while positioning the CANDU reactor for long-term deployment and providing outstanding opportunities for the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Torgerson said the need for R&D involves virtually every field of engineering and the physical sciences, particularly materials and components, fuel, reactor physics, control and instrumentation and specific applications such as hydrogen production, desalination and oil sands.

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