Dr. Nik Popov

Director, Licensing & Safety Assurance

Product Development

CNRA International Workshop on

“New Reactor Siting, Licensing and Construction Experience”

State Office for Nuclear Safety, Prague, Czech Republic

15-17 Sept, 2010

Pre-Project Regulatory Reviews

Of ACR-1000TM

and EC6TM

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Outline

2

1. ACR-1000® and EC6® Design

Summaries

2. Regulatory requirements for

new designs in Canada

3. CNSC pre-project review of

ACR-1000 design

4. CNSC pre-project review of

EC6 design

5. Conclusions

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

AECL’s Reactor Products

3

ACR-1000

• Cost competitiveness • Advanced Canadian licensing and

market position • Designed to benefit from

advanced design tools, modularization

CANDU 6 / EC6

• Proven design, incremental changes from operating reference plant

• Natural uranium • Unique fuel cycle abilities • Sized for grid flexibility

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

• Meet licensing requirements for a new build in Canada

• Meet international expectations for a new build internationally

• Benefit from CANDU design, construction and operational experience

4

Keeping the CANDU TraditionKeeping the CANDU Tradition…

ACR-1000 evolution from the successful CANDU 6

• Modular horizontal fuel channels

• Simple, economical fuel bundle

design

• Separate, low temperature and

pressure heavy water moderator

• Safety features: two independent

safety shutdown systems;

water-filled reactor vault

• On-power fuelling

• Reactor building access for on-power

maintenance

The most recent CANDU 6 plants

completed in 2002 and 2003. • Twin-unit, 728 MW each, in Qinshan Phase III,

China

• Built ahead of time and under budget

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Products and Technology – ACR-1000

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ACR-1000 has been designed to target larger grids and markets

requiring the highest power generation economies

Overview

• 1200 MW(e) Advanced CANDU Reactor

• Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel (~2.4%)

• Light-water coolant, heavy water moderator

Strengths

• CANDU technology as base

• Pre-licensing review by CNSC

• Economies of scale: competitive unit energy cost

• Gen III + safety and economical performance

• Large number of operating improvements

incorporated to achieve higher capacity factor

• Designed for modular construction Two-unit ACR-1000 plant - cutaway

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Products and Technology – C6/EC6

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CANDU 6 and EC6 offer low risk profile based on evolutionary product design

and replication build dynamics

Overview

• 740 MW(e) Classic CANDU reactor

• Natural Uranium (NU) Fuel

• Heavy water coolant and moderator

Strengths

• Only proven medium sized reactor

• Proven high performer

• Outstanding construction record

• Unique fuel cycle capabilities

Two-unit EC6 plant

and calandria face

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Products and Technology – Fuel Cycles

Recovered Uranium and Thorium are the focus of fuel cycle

development programs unique to CANDU

•“Flex fuel concept”

•On-going Thorium program with China

•Recent Chinese confirmation: Thorium use in EC6 “technically practical and feasible”

•RU consortium program (8 nations) led by AECL

•For ACR: MOX blend (PuO2 /UO2) RU + blend with U-235 Thorium

7 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Regulatory Pre-Project Design

Review Objectives

• Are optional services provided by CNSC prior to legally

binding licensing

– assist in mitigating licensing risks and potential associated regulatory

review delays during licensing

– assess whether the design is, at an overall level, compliant with the

CNSC regulatory requirements

– assess whether the design meets the CNSC staff expectations for new

NPPs

– identify whether there are any potential fundamental barriers to

licensing the design

– assess adequacy of the technical documentation to be submitted in

preparation for construction licence application

8 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Regulatory Requirements for New

Designs in Canada

• RD-series document examples

− RD-337, “Design of New Nuclear Power Plants”

− RD-346, “Site Evaluation for New Nuclear Power Plants”

− RD-310, “Safety Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants”

− RD-360, “Life Extension of Nuclear Power Plants”

• Guidance documents examples

G-144 - Trip Acceptance Criteria

INFO-0756, “Licensing Process for New Nuclear Power Plants

in Canada”

GD-369, “Licence Application Guide: Licence to Construct a

Nuclear Power Plant”, Draft

• CNSC Generic Action Items

Generated from CANDU operational experience – need to

address in new designs

9 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

International Expectations

• IAEA - NS-R-1

Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design, 2000

Compliance essential for international marketability

CNSC RD-337 based on NS-R-1

• WENRA (Western European Nuclear Regulators’

Association)

Provides a set of “harmonized” nuclear regulatory

requirements applicable in the European countries

• At high level, ACR-1000 and EC6 meet the NS-R-1

and WENRA expectations

10 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

CNSC Pre-Project Design Reviews

• CNSC offers pre-project review of proposed new

reactor designs

Does not constitute a license approval

Identifies and resolves potential licensing issues

• One to three Phases

Phase 1: Compliance with Regulatory Requirements

Phase 2: Identification of Potential Fundamental Barriers

Phase 3: Follow-up

• ACR-1000 has successfully completed Phases 1 & 2,

Phase 3 ongoing

• EC6 successfully completed Phase 1, Phase 2

ongoing, started April 1, 2010

11 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

CNSC Pre-Project Review:

Standard Focus Topics

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1. Defence-in-depth

2. Reactor physics

3. Fuel design

4. Reactor control system

5. Shutdown means

6. Emergency and long term

cooling

7. Containment

8. Severe Accidents

9. Safety analysis

10. Pressure boundary, seismic

and tornado protection

11. Fire protection

12. Radiation protection

13. Out-of-core criticality

14. Robustness and security

15. Safeguards

16. Design process and QA

in design and safety

analysis

17. Human factors

18. R & D

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

ACR-1000 Pre-Project Review Status

• CNSC pre-project review carried in three phases

–Phase 1: April – Dec 2008

– Objective: Determine compliance with Canadian regulations

–Phase 2: Oct 2008 – Aug 2009

– Objective: Determine if there are potential fundamental

barriers to licensing

– 17 focus topics, such as core physics, safety analysis, fuel,

severe accidents, QA, etc.

–Phase 3: Sep 2009 – June 2010

– Follow-up on a selected number of topics:

o To show progress from Phase 2

o To focus on new methods or approaches (e.g., that have

not been discussed with CNSC before)

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010 13

CNSC ACR-1000 Phase 2 Report

August 31, 2009

• Bottom line: “Based on the Phase 2 review, CNSC staff concludes that there are no

fundamental barriers to licensing the ACR-1000 design in Canada. It

should be noted that this is subject to the successful completion of

AECL’s planned activities, in particular those related to research and

development”.

• Report composed of Executive Summary (available on the web site

for public reading). Main report details the CNSC findings for each of

the 17 focus topics

www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/licenseesapplicants/powerplants/newapplicants/vendorp

reproject/status.cfm

• In each of the focus topics areas CNSC identified no potential

fundamental barriers

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010 14

CNSC EC6 Phase 1 Pre-Project Review

• Schedule

Started in 2009 April, completed March 31, 2010

• Approach

CNSC review covers 17 standard topics

Same as other design reviews for ACR-1000, LWRs

Same objectives as for ACR-1000, LWRs

• Phase 1 Report – April 1, 2010

“At an overall level the design intent is compliant with the CNSC

regulatory requirements and meets the expectations for new nuclear

power plant designs in Canada. This conclusion would be further

confirmed during a Phase 2 review when required information for open

specific technical items identified for each review topic will be fully

addressed. The CNSC staff anticipates that these items could be

brought to closure during a Phase 2 review”

15 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

CNSC EC6 Phase 2 Pre-Project Review

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• Phase 2 pre-project review initiated in April 2010, expected

to be completed by March 2012

• The major deliverable for Phase 2 is an Interim Preliminary

Safety Analysis Report (IPSAR)

• Phase 2 to being conducted on the standard 17 focus

topics, including:

Severe accidents

Reactor core design (reactivity feedback coefficients: fuel

temperature and power)

Radiation doses, human factors, fire protection

Ability of reactor control system to handle Anticipated Operational

Occurrences

Seismic design

Etc.

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010

Conclusions

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• AECL is a two-product company, featuring ACR-1000, light

water cooled, low enriched uranium fueled horizontal channel

reactor, and EC6, heavy water cooled and moderated, natural

uranium fueled horizontal channel reactor

• CANDU 6 has been successfully licensed internationally,

including recent life extension licensing for Point Lepreau plant

in Canada

• ACR-1000 and EC6 are designed to be licensed in Canada and

internationally

• CNSC pre-project reviews of ACR-1000 and EC6 have confirmed

at an overall level that these designs meet regulatory

requirements in Canada

• The pre-project review increases regulatory certainty, reduces

risk of licensing-related delays, and ultimately contributes to

public and environmental safety

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2010