1. 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 15th, 2009

2. “One of Canada’s top ten engineering achievements of the past century”
C A N D U
The Canadian Reactor
that Could
and still Can
“Canada” – because it was invented in Canada, in the late 50’s and early 60’s
“Deuterium” – because a defining characteristic is its use of heavy water moderator (deuterium oxide)
“Uranium” – because it was designed to operate on natural uranium, one of the most abundant minerals in the earth’s crust.
“One of Canada’s top ten engineering achievements of the past century”
Canadian engineering centennial, 1987
(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 …
A little history puts everything into perspective. This section not recommended for all audiences, due to boredom (particularly young audiences). Some high-school audiences explicitly ask for the war-related material however.

4. Otto Hahn, 26 yrs. old (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1944)…
McGill University
Describes radioactivity, half-life
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1908
1910 …
Nuclear structure of atoms
1919 …
First artificial transmutation: N + 4He O + p
Ernest Rutherford
( )
Otto Hahn, 26 yrs. old (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1944)
Ernest Rutherford
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. Gilbert Labine 1930 … Discovery of uranium at Great Bear Lake
( )
Discovery of uranium at Great Bear Lake
Port Hope refinery, 1933

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

8. ? James Chadwick 1932 … (1891 - 1974) # protons # neutrons
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
( )

10. 1939 … January: FISSION! September: WAR!
(Hahn, Strassmann, Meitner, Frisch)
(Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo)
September: WAR!
A twist of fate: One of the biggest and most powerful energy sources known to mankind, the fission of uranium and the unprecedented energy thus released, was discovered just months before the the start of the biggest global conflict known to mankind -- and the discovery was made in the country that instigated that conflict.

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

12. …
George Laurence
( )
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. Howe Cdn. 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
( )
First self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction
Nobel Prize in Physics: 1938
Dr. George Laurence, working in his spare time at the NRC labs on Sussex Drive, was one of the first in the world to experiment with nuclear fission chain reactions in piles of graphite and uranium. If he had purer materials and more resources he might have been the first to achieve a self-sustaining chain reaction, an honour that went to Enrico Fermi in Chicago, on December 2, For more on Canada’s early history, see “Entering The Nuclear Age” by Jeremy Whitlock at:
and “Early Years of Nuclear Energy Research in Canada” by George Laurence, at: .
Chicago: December 2, 1942

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

16. Chalk River Laboratories
1944 …
Chalk River Laboratories
The location for the heavy-water reactor project designed by the Montreal Group was a place on the Ottawa River near Chalk River, Ontario. This became Chalk River Laboratories.

17. ZEEP: first reactor to reach criticality outside the U.S.A.
1945 …
ZEEP, built by Lew Kowarski (bringing “closure” to his long journey than began with heavy water experiments in France), was a small reactor producing a few watts of power (practically “zero”; hence its name). It’s mission was to test the design of the NRX reactor, then under construction. ZEEP started operating for the first time on Sept. 5, 1945, becoming the world’s first reactor outside the United States. It operated for 25 years as a versatile and simple research reactor, and was shut down in 1970.
Lew Kowarski
Chalk River: September 5, 1945

18. Canada in 1945: … WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE…?
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)
Canada was the only one of the three nations with nuclear weapons potential at the end of WWII, to decide to not pursue their production. Canada did continue to make plutonium in the NRX reactor, and later the NRU reactor, which it sold to the U.S. until the early 1970s. Canadian policy then prohibited further involvement in the supply of uranium or plutonium for nuclear weapons, which continues today. More importantly, the NRX and NRU reactors were both designed to be the world’s most powerful research reactors in their day, and both fulfilled this role beyond all expectation – testing reactor materials, supporting reactor fuel development, supplying neutrons for basic physics research and isotope production. They put Canada at the forefront of the physics world – a “Mecca for nuclear research”. NRX was shut down in 1992 after 45 years of service. NRU still operates and is one of Canada’s biggest and most productive science facilities, among other things supplying most of the world’s nuclear medicine isotopes.
A Mecca for nuclear research

20. “The Atom Bomb That Saves Lives”
1951 …
COBALT CANCER THERAPY
“The Atom Bomb That Saves Lives”
Maclean’s Magazine, 1952
University of Western Ontario
University of Saskatchewan
Two independent teams raced to become the first to operate cancer therapy machines, both based on cobalt-60 manufactured in the NRX reactor. Eldorado Mining and Refining’s machine at the University of Western Ontario became the first, narrowly beating the team from the University of Saskatchewan. Eldorado’s medical division was absorbed into AECL the following year (1952), becoming the Commercial Products division of the crown corporation.
FIRST PATIENT: 27 Oct, 1951
FIRST PATIENT: 8 Nov, 1951

21. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
1952 …
In 1952 the Crown Corporation AECL was create to purse the peaceful applications of nuclear power in Canada.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

22. 1950’s … Triple Axis Spectrometer, 1958 Bertram Brockhouse
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1994
The Golden Era of physics at AECL saw cutting-edge experiments and world-leading scientists (like Nobel laureate Bertram Brockhouse) become part of the routine operations of Chalk River Laboratories.
Tandem Accelerator, 1959
Ted Litherland, Allan Bromley, Harry Gove

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

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

25. McMaster Nuclear Reactor
1959 …
McMaster Nuclear Reactor

26. Nuclear Power Demonstration
1962 …
Nuclear Power Demonstration
Rolphton, Ontario: June 4, 1962
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
In 1962 Canada started up its first nuclear power reactor, Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD), about 15 km upstream from Chalk River Laboratories. The 20 MW reactor (about 3% the size of CANDU 6) was a joint effort of AECL, Canadian General Electric (now GE Canada), and Ontario Hydro (now OPG). It operated for 25 years, being shut down in 1987.
Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission
Canadian General Electric

27. Wilfrid Bennett (W.B.) Lewis
( )
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. CANDU in Canada Pickering, Ontario (1971-73, 1983-86)
Darlington, Ontario ( )
Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD), Ontario (1962)
Bruce, Ontario ( , )
CANDU in Canada
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 ( )
Cernavoda, Romania (1996, 2007, …?)
CANDU around the world
Kanupp, Pakistan (1972)
Rajasthan, India
(1973, 1982)

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

32. Chalk River Laboratories
YOU ARE HERE

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. ALBERTA, SASKATCHEWAN:
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”: