NUCLEAR POWER FOR VANCOUVER ISLAND i •• • .. •. ;^ ; At the requc Canada limited generation of m NUCLEAR POWER FOR VANCOUVER ISLAND At the request of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited has been most happy to prepare these notes on many aspects of the generation of nuclear power on Vancouver Island. The 23 topics are as listed in the letter of Mr. David D. Hart, President of the Chamber, which is reproduced herewith. ; Our study shows that Vancouver Island is a logical area for the application of nuclear power. - . • We would be glad to try to answer any questions arising from these notes, or to refer . those interested to AECL or other publications giving more detailed information on specific subjects. •- - Ji. Gray President Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, • - ,275 Slater Street, . ; , - Ottawa; Ontario . ' -'-.,',' Í K1A0S4 , ,'•'••• • ? fii 2nd edition Covtr photo show« th« Douglw Point N,icl»ar Ganaiiting Station which i« part of tha Bruca Nuclaar Pcwyar Daválopmant on Laka - Huron.-' ,•'*•• '• " ~•-, > . ° I • ".'. ,,\ % INDEX List of Illustrations 2 Summary 3 Explanatory Notes and Abbreviations 4 How a Nuclear Plant Works .: 5 Letter from Mr. David D. Hart 8 Topics Suggested by Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce 9 ILLUSTRATIONS i i;i Fig. No. Page I ii 1 Comparison of Nuclear with Conventional Power 5 I 2 Flow diagram of Nuclear Power Plant 5 !| 3, 540 MW Turbo-Generator. 5 I - 4 Pickering Nuclear Generating Station 6 )| , 5 Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station 6 if 6 . Map showing Canadian Atomic Energy Establishments 7 I •-"-"• p. 7 Burrard Thermal Generating Plant 7 I 8 Ontario Hydro's Nuclear Training Centre for Operators 15 9 NPD Generating Station • • • I6 -' ' 10 Effects of Inflation on Power Costs 18 11 Fuel Bundle;. 22 12 FuelCycles 23 ~~- -'" -" " i3 Cüt-awàydrawing of'Nuclear Power Plant. 27 14 i. Bruce Heavy Water Plant , 28 15- CANDUConcepts... ...._.........; 33 16. End of Voyage.. '.'...:>., ••., 35 SLií.. fts *JU. w.^.^_.-* -SUMMARY This brief study indicates that: — Vancouver Island appears to be a logical area for the application of nuclear power. — The cost of power from a nucleat plant on the Island would be less than that from any of the alternatives understood to be currently under consideration; inflation of the costs of conventional fuel will increase the differentiafduring the life of the plant. — The effects on the environment would be less than for any alternative source of power. The level of radioactivity found in the environment, especially outside the exclusion area, as a result of reactor operations would be a small fraction ofthat existing prior to startup of the nuclear plant. The effects of the thermal discharge depend somewhat on the site chosen, but would be unlikely to be detectable more than 'A to 'A mile from the site, and within this distance are more likely to be desirable than otherwise. No other environmental effects are involved. — A nuclear power unit of up to 600 MW (600,000 kilowatts) would fit in with existing power sources on the Island. Existing hydro plants and undersea cables to the mainland would help to even the load on the nuclear plant, and provide power when it was necessary to shut down the nuclear plant for maintenance. Future increases in power demands could be met equally economically by adding nuclear units at the site of the first unit. — A significant portion of the expenditure on a nuclear plant would go to local and provincial labour, material supplies, manufactured components, operator training and engineering. ' — The first unit would require an operating staff of about 135; close to 300 new permanent jobs would be created in the community in which the plant was located." EXPLANATORY NOTES AND. ABBREVIATIONS H AECB: The (Canadian) Atomic Energy Control Board represents the Federal Govern- ment in regulatory matters pertaining to the licensing and safety aspects of nuclear energy. AECL: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is a Crown Corporation, formed in 1952 to ht take over the operation of the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories from the National (a Research Council and to further the development of nuclear power and other uses of ai nuclear energy. It operates research laboratories at Chalk River, Ontario, and Pinawa, be Manitoba, and an engineering office and laboratories at Sheridan Park, near Toronto. he Fig. 6 indicates the location of these establishments. te fossil fuel: Refers to coal, oil or natural gas. fr< sn kWh: Kilowatt-hour, a basic unit of electrical energy. The average yearly consumption of re electricity per person in Canada in 1969 was 3,893 kWh. he milis/kWh: Used to express the cost of electricity. A mill in this sense is one-tenth of a P« cent. The cost of transmitting electric power to Vancouver Island from the mainland is m about 2 mSs/kWh, in addition to the cost of generating it. tu MWe or MW: Megawatts electrical. A megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts. The maximum Pi electrical power available on Vancouver Island is about 980 MWe, of which about 540 de MWe can be transmitted from the mainland via the submarine cable from Tsawwassen. ne A likely size for the first nuclear power plant unit on the Island might be 600 MWe. so The heat generated in a reactor is measured in thermal megawatts (MWt). Most nuclear power systems convert about 30% of this heat into electrical energy, the "thermal H; efficiency" being limited by the maximum temperature at which heat can be ge transported from the reactor and by the cooHng water temperature. fa Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (Ontario Hydro): supplies almost all of the electric power used in Ontario, and frequently exports some to New York State. In addition to hydro and coal-fired steam plants, and a 200 MWe nuclear prototype plant at Douglas Point in operation, it has under construction two-large 4-unit nuclear stations known as Pickering and Bruce. The first three 500 MWe Pickering units are. operating in an exceptionally satisfactory manner,, and the 4th unit will be brought into operation in 1973. The four Bruce units, of 750 MWe each, will be started up about a year apart commencing in 1975. Similar or larger generating stations are in the Fig. 2- planning stage. Present generating capacity is over. 13,000 MW. ~ - powerpl Quebec Hydro-Electric Commission (Hydro-Quebec): supplies electric power for almost ; all of the Province of Quebec. Most of this is generated from water-power. The Commission operates one prototype nuclear unit rated at 250. MWe at Gentilly, which is in the process,,of being brought up to full power. If the James Bay hydro, development is carried through, Hydro-Quebec may build one'or two nuclear plants to provide'power in the interim but a full-scale nuclear power program, would not be required until the mid-1980s. ~ 'I . ,: ''_• rem: This is a unit of radiation effectively absorbed in man. If'a man were to stand in a radiation field such that he absorbed one rem in one hour, the,dose rate in the field is Fis.3- 1 rem per hour. Similarly,'if he had to stand in a radiation field for 100 hours to sett of 1 absorb 1 rem, the field would be l/100th rerirper hour. In each case he would have TiMCOIK absorbed one man-rem^The natural radiation on this continent averages about 0.13 rem per year. Statistical studies of large populations that have existed in natural radiation fields of up to a dozen times this figure have failed to reveal any discernible " - 'effect. • " .,.'.-'-. • . .", " . " •.,"*, • " • ' =-- - HOW A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WORKS The first diagram shows that a nuclear power plant is similar to a coal or gas burning steam power plant, except that a nuclear reaction provides the heat to generate the steam. Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically how this is done. When tubes containing nuclear fuel (see Fig. 11, page22) ate surrounded by heavy water, a nuclear reaction takes place which causes the fuel to become hot. A separate system pumps high pressure heavy water past the fuel, which heats the water to a temperature of about 575°F (the pressure prevents it from boiling). This water passes through the many small tubes of a heat exchanger, thence back to the reactor. Ordinary water surrounds the tubes of the heat exchanger, or steam generator, and boils to provide ordinary steam for the turbine. As in all modern steam power plants, after passing through the turbine the steam must be condensed before being pumped back into the steam generator. The con-, denser is normally cooled by water drawn from the nearest lake, river or ocean, and is returned-to the source some 15°F warmer. Fig. 1 — Nuclear power plants are much like conventional steam Fig. 3 shows a 540 MW turbo-generator at Ontario power plants, except that a nuclear reactor provides the heat to Hydro's Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. It generate the steam. generates more than'eight times the power of the famous ship "Queen Elizabeth". , . : MXMiAS POINT NUC11AR POWIR STATION Fig. 2 — Schematic flow diagram of a nuclear power plant. Fig. 4 - The Pickering Nuclear G.S. under conttruçtion. The first three units are now operating steadHy at full power. -Fig. 5-Th» Douglas Point Nuclear Generating . Station. ,•'••' ATOMIC ENERGY ESTAILISHMENTS IN CANADA «HITMHH1 NUCLIM ntUUICH KUUUISHMMT 1D0 ISO 30ft Fig. 6 — Location of .Canadian atomic energy research establishments and nuclear power plants. A bird's eye view of the Pickering station is shown a capacity of 200 MW, it commenced operation in in Fig. 4. Each of the four domed structures contains 1966.