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Dr. Jeremy Whitlock Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Canadian Nuclear Society

Splitting Atoms, Canadian Style. Dr. Jeremy Whitlock Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Canadian Nuclear Society. CNS Seminar on Canada’s Nuclear Technology UOIT, Oshawa, October 15 th , 2009. “One of Canada’s top ten engineering achievements of the past century”.

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Dr. Jeremy Whitlock Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Canadian Nuclear Society

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  1. Splitting Atoms, Canadian Style Dr. Jeremy WhitlockAtomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Canadian Nuclear Society CNS Seminar on Canada’s Nuclear Technology UOIT, Oshawa, October 15th, 2009

  2. “One of Canada’s top ten engineering achievements of the past century” Canadian engineering centennial, 1987 C A N D U The Canadian Reactor that Could and still Can (Other nine: CPR railway, St. Lawrence seaway, Polymer Corp. synthetic rubber, oil sands development, Hydro Quebec HV transmission system, Beaver aircraft, Alouette satellite, Bombardier snowmobile, trans-Canada telephone network)

  3. In the beginning …

  4. Ernest Rutherford Otto Hahn, 26 yrs. old (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1944) 1898-1907 … McGill University Describes radioactivity, half-life Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1908 1910 … Nuclear structure of atoms 1919 … First artificialtransmutation: 14N + 4He17O + p Ernest Rutherford (1871 - 1937) McGill University, 1905

  5. “If it were ever possible to control at will the rate of disintegration of the radio-elements, an enormous amount of energy could be obtained from a small amount of matter” Ernest Rutherford, 1904

  6. 1930 … Gilbert Labine (1890 - 1977) Discovery of uranium at Great Bear Lake Port Hope refinery, 1933

  7. John Cockroft (1897 - 1967) Ernest Walton (1903 - 1995) 1932 … The atom is split ! Cockroft and Walton’s 1932 accelerator First to “split the atom”: 7Li + p 4He + 4HeNobel Prize in Physics: 1951 John Cockroft, Ernest Rutherford, Ernest Walton

  8. 1932 … James Chadwick (1891 - 1974) Discovers the neutron, 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics, 1935 Start of the Neutron Transmutation Bandwagon ? # protons # neutrons

  9. “The energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine” Sir Ernest Rutherford, 1933 (1871 - 1937)

  10. September: WAR! (Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo) 1939 … January: FISSION! (Hahn, Strassmann, Meitner, Frisch)

  11. 1940 … Have heavy water, will travel Lew Kowarski Hans von Halban

  12. 1941-42 … George Laurence (1905 - 1987) World’s first large-scale fission experiments in graphite (National Research Council) 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa

  13. Aug. 17, 1942 … “Okay, let’s go!” C.D. HoweCdn. Wartime Minister of Munitions & Supply G.C. Laurence, C.D. Howe, C.J. Mackenzie, J.D. Cockroft C.D. Howe(1886 – 1960) Aug., 1945

  14. Dec. 2, 1942 … Enrico Fermi (1901 - 1954) First self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction Nobel Prize in Physics: 1938 Chicago: December 2, 1942

  15. John Cockroft George Laurence 1943 … “Montreal Group” (NRC, at U. of Montreal)

  16. 1944 … Chalk River Laboratories

  17. ZEEP: first reactor to reach criticality outside the U.S.A. 1945 … Lew Kowarski Chalk River: September 5, 1945

  18. Canada in 1945: • Second largest nuclear infrastructure on the planet • Atomic bomb knowledge • World experts on heavy-water reactor • Uranium supplies • World’s most powerful research reactor (NRX) under construction … WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE…?

  19. Canada’s Choice: Peaceful Applications of Nuclear Energy NRX (1947) NRU (1957) A Mecca for nuclear research

  20. 1951 … COBALT CANCER THERAPY “The Atom Bomb That Saves Lives” Maclean’s Magazine, 1952 University of Western Ontario University of Saskatchewan FIRST PATIENT: 27 Oct, 1951 FIRST PATIENT: 8 Nov, 1951

  21. 1952 … Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

  22. 1950’s … Triple Axis Spectrometer, 1958 Bertram Brockhouse Nobel Prize in Physics, 1994 Tandem Accelerator, 1959 Ted Litherland, Allan Bromley, Harry Gove

  23. Dec. 12, 1952 … NRX Accident Partial meltdown of core Demonstrated that a major reactor accident need not be a disaster Taught many lessons about reactorsafety, and made Canada world leaderin this area George Laurence: 1956: Chair of ReactorSafety Advisory Committee 1961-1970: 2nd President of Atomic Energy Control Board

  24. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 1957 … Canada instrumentalin establishing IAEA Follows Eisenhower’s 1953 “Atoms for Peace” speech

  25. 1959 … McMaster Nuclear Reactor

  26. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission Canadian General Electric 1962 … Nuclear Power Demonstration Rolphton, Ontario: June 4, 1962

  27. Wilfrid Bennett (W.B.) Lewis (1908 - 1987) • The driving force behind the application of nuclear science to electricity production. • Canada decides to build its program on its attained expertise: natural-uranium fuel and heavy-water moderator. W.B. Lewis: “The father of CANDU”

  28. AECL and Power Plant Design • 1958:AECL creates Nuclear Power Plant Division in Toronto • Later renamed Power Projects, then Engineering Company, then AECL CANDU, then AECL Sheridan Park • 1966:First plant project of Power Division starts up (“first critical”): Douglas Point(40 years ago this year)

  29. Pickering, Ontario(1971-73, 1983-86) Darlington, Ontario (1990-93) Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD), Ontario (1962) Bruce, Ontario(1977-79, 1985-87) CANDUinCanada Douglas Point, Ontario (1966) Gentilly 1 and 2, Quebec(1971, 1983) Pt. Lepreau, New Brunswick(1983)

  30. Wolsong, South Korea(1982, 1997-99) Embalse, Argentina (1984) Qinshan, China(2002-03) Cernavoda, Romania(1996, 2007, …?) CANDUaroundthe world Kanupp, Pakistan (1972) Rajasthan, India (1973, 1982)

  31. A Canadian Gift to the World: Cancer Therapy and Nuclear Medicine

  32. YOU ARE HERE Chalk River Laboratories

  33. NRU Research Reactor(AECL Chalk River)

  34. Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000) • Optimizes the CANDU product • More efficient and cost-effective • Light water coolant, heavy-water moderator • Maintains all advantages of heavy-water reactor • Competes against advanced fossil and reactor designs

  35. ONTARIO: Refurbishment, new-build NEW BRUNSWICK: Refurbishment, new-build QUEBEC: Refurbishment ALBERTA, SASKATCHEWAN: The NEW NUCLEAR FRONTIER? NUCLEAR NORTH OF 60?

  36. Perceptions are changing?

  37. It’s still about good people NPD design team (CAPD), Peterborough, 1955 doing good work

  38. Thank you Canadian Nuclear Society:www.cns-snc.ca “Canadian Nuclear FAQ”:www.nuclearfaq.ca

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