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• AECL halts development of MAPLE project

  Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd announced that it had decided to immediately discontinue development work of the two MAPLE research reactors at its Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario. Posted May 19 2008, 10:05 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: ACEL, MAPLE Project

• Review work starts on ACR-1000

  Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) has announced that safety regulators are to start 'pre-project design review activites' on its ACR-1000 nuclear power reactor design in Canada. A memorandum of understanding was signed by AECL and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on 8 April, just one day after the company said it would concentrate its resources on the domestic market for new reactors. "Initial activities will include the review of the Generic Safety Case Report that provides comprehensive information on the ACR-1000 design and safety analysis," said an AECL statement. Hugh MacDiarmid, president and CEO of the company added: "The pre-project design review greatly enhances the certainty of our schedule leading to the follow-up licensing process for construction of ACR-1000 plants in Canada." Posted Apr 14 2008, 11:18 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: ACEL, New Nuclear Plant, ACR-1000

• NRU upgrades now complete

  The safety upgrade program at the heart of Canada's recent isotope crisis has now been completed. Two coolant pumps are now fully connected to a new emergency power supply. AECL said: "NRU is safer now than it has ever been." Posted Feb 06 2008, 11:38 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: ACEL, NRU

• Canadian isotope production restarts

  Canada's National Research Universal reactor (NRU) returned to service in the early hours of 16 December, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) has confirmed. The removal of medical isotopes for processing and distribution was expected to begin within four days of the restart. The reactor, at the Chalk River site, was shut down for scheduled maintenance on 6 December but AECL opted to extend the outage after the country's nuclear regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), found out that safety upgrades mandated over a year previously had not been implemented. The extended shutdown triggered a crisis in the supply of medical isotopes both in Canada and around the world, and resulted in the Canadian government overruling the CNSC and ordering an early restart. AECL partially completed the required work before Sunday's restart, and assured the government that the reactor could operate safely in an interim configuration while the rest of the upgrade work is carried out. Posted Dec 18 2007, 11:29 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: ACEL, CNSC

• Mayor: Manitoba should consider nuclear

  [CBC News, 10 December] A local mayor has called for the Canadian province of Manitoba to consider building a nuclear power plant, and has set up a working group to develop a proposal to bring nuclear generation to the region. Blair Skinner is mayor of Pinawa, a community of about 1500 residents and the location of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd's (AECL's) Whiteshell nuclear research and testing laboratories, currently being decommissioned after over 35 years of operation. According to Skinner, the cost of building a nuclear reactor - including full capital costs, waste disposal and end-of-life decommissioning - would be comparable to the cost of a new hydro plant. He also voiced his opinion that nuclear power is more environmentally friendly than building a new hydroelectric plant. Manitoba is in the centre of Canada between Ontario and Saskatchewan. Canada currently generates about 15% of its electricity from 18 nuclear reactors. Posted Dec 11 2007, 09:07 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Manitoba, ACEL