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ABSTRACT
CANDU reactors are commercial, natural-uranium-fuelled fission reactors that have separate heavy-water systems for the primary coolant and moderator and a light-water system for the secondary coolant.. The primary coolant system and the moderator are unique to CANDU and distinguish it from the PWRs, which have enriched fuel and moderate the neutronic reactions with the light-water of the primary coolant; the secondary coolant systems of PWRs and CANDUs are similar. This article concentrates on CANDU primary coolant and moderator systems, describing the materials of construction and their interaction with the heavy water. The degradation mechanisms of the materials and the measures to control them through chemistry adjustments are described.
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Read the articleAUTHOR
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Derek LISTER: Professor Emeritus and Research Chair in Nuclear Engineering - University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada
INTRODUCTION
CANDU reactors are natural-uranium-fuelled fission reactors moderated with heavy water (D 2 O) in a separate system and cooled with heavy water in the primary system. They are dual-cycle Pressurised-Heavy-Water Reactors (PHWRs) with a light-water-cooled secondary system and they have on-power fuelling.
Since it is the flagship reactor of Canadian Generation III nuclear technology, the CANDU-6 is the focus of discussion in this paper. Details of the systems are described in later sections.
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KEYWORDS
heavy water | primary heat transport system | fuel channels | steam generators | moderator system
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Materials of the Heavy Water Systems of CANDU Reactors
Presentation of the CANDU reactor
Sources bibliographiques
Websites
Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organisation
Canada's University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Education (UNENE)
https://www.unene.ca/education/candu-textbook
CANDU CANTEACH Poject...
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