Background

____uclear energy is a fairly new concept. It began in 1939
____with the discovery of nuclear fission (Whitlock, 2007). In 1942 Canada and Great Britain created a secret lab at the University of Montreal where heavy water, which was moved from England because of the war, was stored (Whitlock, 2007). According to Whitlock (2007), the United States of America joined the program to begin research on an atomic bomb, but would later leave the program to do testing alone. With the United States gone, Canada and Great Britain focussed more on the use of deuterium oxide, heavy water, rather than atomic weapons (Whitlock, 2007). After the war ended in 1945, Canada began looking into nuclear energy’s peaceful uses (Whitlock, 2007). Whitlock (2007) stated that in the 1950s nuclear power caught the public’s attention and its uses as a source of electricity were deeply looked into. Canada’s first nuclear power reactor was CANDU (Whitlock, 2007), an acronym for CANada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU, nd; CANDU reactor, 2007). CANDU is the only nuclear power plant found in Canada, supplying fifteen percent of its electricity (CANDU, nd; Whitlock, 2007).

____ne of the major advancements of the CANDU system is
____that it does not need to be shut down for refuelling like in light water reactors (CANDU Reactor, 2007; Whitlock, 2007). Because of this ability, CANDU generally has high performance ratings (CANDU Reactor, 2007; Whitlock, 2007). According to Whitlock (2007), the ability to remove fuel while the reactor is running allows defective fuel to be detected and removed quickly (Whitlock, 2007). In order to remove fuel cells two identical machines, with the ability to insert or discard fuel bundles, are put on either side of the calandria (Whitlock, 2007). Theses devices are controlled by remote in a control room (Whitlock, 2007). Used uranium bundles are discarded in a storage facility (Whitlock, 2007).

____ANDU was developed through a partnership between
____Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, and Canadian General Electric (GE Canada) (CANDU reactor, 2007). There are currently twenty-nine reactors around the world, on four different continents and in five countries (CANDU, nd). According to Whitlock (2007) and “CANDU reactor” (2007) all nuclear power in Canada is produced by CANDU. There are eighteen reactors in Canada, two in refurbishment and six decommissioned. Four reactors are in South Korea, two in China, two in India, one in Argentina, one in Romania, and one in Pakistan (CANDU reactor, 2007; Whitlock, 2007). There are a further eleven CANDU “derivatives” in India, which are based on the CANDU design but are not official CANDU reactors. This is because Canada stopped nuclear trading with India when they set off a nuclear bomb (CANDU reactor, 2007; Whitlock, 2007).