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UNRESTRICTED | ILLIMITÉ Andrew NRU was designed to have the aluminum calandria vessel replaced.
This was last done in in the early 1970s, when it took from June 5 1972
to August 2 1974 to replace the vessel and perform other refurbishment
activities. NRU’s future has been in a hiatus for several years, as it
was intended to be shut permanently (in 2005?) when a new large research reactor
was built. To design, build and install a new calandria vessel would take
several years, so the current repairs are the only viable short-term solution
to returning the reactor to service. Amongst other things, there is a
large amount of piping and control systems that would require removal and
subsequent restoration. The NRU is perhaps symptomatic of our society – we rely on
various systems that were built decades ago, with relatively little thought to
the ongoing maintenance and replacement of them as they wear out. Governments
(and the populace that elected them) seem more interested in supporting the
construction/acquisition of highly visible new stuff (e.g., new airport
terminals, expanded highways, new sports arenas), rather than maintaining/upgrading/replacing
what we already have - sewers, bridges, water lines, schools, hospitals, roads,
hydro lines, power stations, ... cheers Morgan From: cdn-nucl-l-admin@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA
[mailto:cdn-nucl-l-admin@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA] On Behalf Of Andrew
Daley QUESTION: How long would it take to procure/ fabricate/ install a new
aluminum vessel for this reactor? Just a ballpark figure would do... it's
going to be ~ 1 year for the (apparently) very comoplicted repair work... would
it have been wise (maybe ion hindsight) top just replace the damn tank (as, I
understand, it is designed to do?) Chalk River nuclear reactor restart delayed
8:42am EST TORONTO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Restart of the Chalk River nuclear reactor has
been pushed into April after welding problems at the facility delayed repairs,
its operator Atomic Energy of Canada said. The reactor, which supplies a third of the world's medical isotopes, was
shut down in May after a small leak of heavy water was found. The facility was originally scheduled to return to service sometime in
March. ... <SNIP>
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