NUCLEAR EDUCATION IN CANADA Dr. John C. Luxat Professor & NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Safety Analysis McMaster University Presentation to Canada’s Nuclear Industry Capabilities Seminar Santiago, Chile November 26, 2009

UNIVERSITIES WITH NUCLEAR PROGRAMS & INDUSTRY IN CANADA NEW BRUNSWICK UNB NEW BRUNSWICK UNB QUEBEC Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal QUEBEC Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal ONTARIO McMaster Queen’s, RMC, UOIT U of T, UWO Waterloo ONTARIO McMaster Queen’s, RMC, UOIT U of T, UWO Waterloo SASKATCHEWAN U Saskatchewan SASKATCHEWAN U Saskatchewan ONTARIO OPG, Bruce Power, AECL, COG, Cameco, AMEC-NSS, Kinectrics, CANDESCO, OCI, International Safety Research, Stern Labs, BC Instruments, NRCan Gen IV, NRCan CANMET-MTL, NRC-CNBC ONTARIO OPG, Bruce Power, AECL, COG, Cameco, AMEC-NSS, Kinectrics, CANDESCO, OCI, International Safety Research, Stern Labs, BC Instruments, NRCan Gen IV, NRCan CANMET-MTL, NRC-CNBC NEW BRUNSWICK NB Power NEW BRUNSWICK NB Power QUEBEC Hydro Quebec QUEBEC Hydro Quebec SASKATCHEWAN Cameco SASKATCHEWAN Cameco UNIVERSITIES INDUSTRY / GOVERNMENT

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES NUCLEAR FIELDDISCIPLINE Reactor PhysicsNuclear Engineering; Engineering Physics; Physics Thermal Hydraulics (Heat Transfer, Fluid Dynamics) Nuclear Engineering, Engineering Physics, Mechanical Engineering Nuclear Fuel Design and PerformanceNuclear Engineering, Materials Science, Engineering Physics Reactor MaterialsNuclear Engineering, Materials Science Containment Design and PerformanceNuclear Engineering, Civil Engineering Reactor ControlElectrical & Computer Engineering; Reactor Physics Nuclear SafetyAll of the above nuclear fields + Mathematics

UNIVERSITY NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE IN NUCLEAR ENGINEERING (UNENE)  Formed in response to concerns with skilled nuclear work force  Consortia of industry  Primary Funding Sponsors Utilities (OPG, BP), Designer and R&D (AECL)  Associate Members Regulator (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission), Service providers (NSS, Candesco, Stern Laboratories).  Two major components  Education M.Eng. Program  Research NSERC IRC program 7 university chairs spanning all aspects of nuclear engineering.

UNENE Objectives  UNENE was established by industry to:  Develop nuclear research capabilities at key universities.  Ensure HQP in a vital economic area.  Develop university and industrial collaborations  Ensure technical expertise for industrial or public consultations.

UNENE Structure Industry AECL, OPG, BP UNENE NSERC IRC Program TAC IRC and AIRC NSERC CRD Program RACCRD

UNENE UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES UNENE McMaster (Nuclear Safety Analysis) Queen’s (Nuclear Materials) Toronto (Nano-Engineering of Alloys) Waterloo (Risk-Based Life Cycle Management) Western Ontario (Control, Instrumentation & Electrical) UOIT (Radiation Dosimetry) RMC (Fuel NOC) ASSOCIATE & OTHER Ecole Polytecnique (Reactor Physics/FIV) New Brunswick (Corrosion) Dalhousie (SLOWPOKE Reactor) Alberta (SLOWPOKE Reactor) Saskatchewan (SLOWPOKE Reactor) Carleton

Unique Training Programs  Typical M.Eng  3 courses  Research intensive  Graduate Diploma  4 courses  Distance learning pilot  Focus on industry needs  UNENE M.Eng  8-10 courses  Small research project  Distance learning pilot  Focus on industry needs

Typical UNENE Grad Student  Funding from University and UNENE  ~900 / month from UNENE  ~900 / month from University (TA)  Some variations  24 month Masters  48 month PhD  Exchanges  Fund travel and continue graduate payments  Additional funds from host institution to cover accommodations/ additional cost of living  Summer exchanges (4 month) or longer.  Cost ~20k per year.

UNENE Spin-off Successes  Grant Application Awards  ORF-RE “Nuclear Ontario” $ 4.9M [2008]  CFI-NIF / ORF-RI Centre for Advanced Nuclear Systems (CANS) - McMaster $23.4M [2009]  CFI-NIF / ORF-RI Testing of Nuclear Materials in a Simulated Reactor Environment – Queen’s U $14M [2009] ACRONYMS ORF-RE = Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence CFI-NIF =Canada Foundation for Innovation – New Initiatives Fund ORF-RI = Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure

ORF - Nuclear Ontario Advanced Reactors  Focus 3 – examine key components and phenomena related to advanced nuclear reactors.  GEN-IV safety  Leverage existing AECL-NSERC contribution (McMaster)  GEN-IV thermalhydraulics  Leverage AECL contribution of SCW test facility (Carleton)  SCW small scale TH heat transfer testing  GEN III+ and GEN-IV Core material analysis (Queens)

COLLABORATIONS WITHIN UNIVERSITY (McMaster Example)  Collaborations include research projects, equipment sharing and co-supervision of students.  University departments  Engineering Physics, Material Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer and Software Engineering, Applied Mathematics.  Software certification (ORF-RE funded project: IRC is a collaborating researcher)  McMaster Nuclear Reactor and Accelerator Labs  Research Centers  Centre for Advanced Nuclear Systems (CANS) – CFI & ORF-RI  McMaster Institute for Applied Radiation Science (McIARS)  Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC)  Canada Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM)

COLLABORATIONS: NATIONAL  Industrial  Major collaboration with AECL-CRL on fuel cycle and physics and Gen IV thermal hydraulics. Led by Dr. J. Luxat (McMaster) and Dr. R. Duffey (AECL Chief Scientist). Linked to ORF-RE Nuclear Ontario research network award  Safety analysis codes and methods with OPG, Bruce Power, Amec NSS and AECL-CRL.  Universities  Collaborations between Royal Military College, Queen’s U, U of Western Ontario, U of Toronto and Carleton U.

COLLABORATIONS: INTERNATIONAL  Collaborations established with IPNG-Grenoble, U of Pisa, Penn State.  Significant expansion of international collaborations:  Industrial EdF, EPRI, TEPCo  Universities Penn State, Purdue, Trinity College, Dalton Institute - Univ. of Manchester plus others.

Interactions With Industry  Research  Technical Advisory Committee (AECL, BP, OPG) Detailed discussion on research directions and opportunities. Ensures industrial-university technical research objectives are met. Very positive feedback.  Technical exchanges Industrial “site-visits” initiated  Graduate student presentations to key industry personnel Industrial intern placements  Industrial R&D  Student conference attendance and presentations  Opportunity to present/interact with external utilities and researchers.

Benefits to Canada  Significant increase in HQP in a vitally needed area of expertise.  Research benefits  Resolution of regulatory issues  Methodology prototyping  Assist in power uprating  Safety improvements  Consultations  Leveraging industry government investment  expansion well beyond original UNENE vision.  Expansion of UNENE university partners/collaborators.  Expert support of the industry/public

QUESTIONS?

Example of Interactions With Industry  Consultations and Technical Activities  Luxat AECL Board of Directors Advisory Board – IASMiRT; Exec Committee ANS TH Division Chair – ACR-1000 Independent Safety Review AECL Nuclear Safety Committee reviewing ACR-1000 Member External Licensing Advisory Group for ACR-1000 Chair – Independent PIRT Panel BEAU analysis Technical expert – Independent Expert Panels: High Temperature Fuel Behaviour; Fuel Element Deformation (Bowing) Safety consultant – fuel channel integrity, high temperature fuel behaviour, ECCS performance, SG flow induced vibration, ageing in PSA, nuclear technology IAEA expert missions assessing safety in Pakistan and Argentina