New restart delay of Canada's Chalk River reactor

[Dogmudgeon]

It was shut down in May 2009 by a leak of "heavy water" -- a.k.a., tritium. (Technically, it's "tritiated water".) The same kind of tritium leak(s) led to the recent shut-down of Entergy's Vermont Yankee reactor.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1017831320100311">New restart delay of Canada's Chalk River reactor

VANCOUVER, March 10 (Reuters) - Restart of the Chalk River medical isotope-producing nuclear reactor has been delayed until at least May because of the complexity of ongoing repairs, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd said on Wednesday.

The aging reactor in eastern Ontario, which supplies a third of the world's medical isotopes, was shut down in May 2009 by a small heavy water leak and the date of its return to service has been pushed back repeatedly.

...

Officials had initially speculated when the more than 50-year-old reactor broke down last year that they could have it running again in three months. The leak did not pose a risk to the general public.

...

The shortage of isotopes has forced doctors around the world to reschedule or cancel medical procedures and sent companies such as Canada's MDS Inc (MDS.TO) (MDZ.N), whose Nordion division depends on Chalk River for the bulk of its isotopes, to scramble for new supply sources.

...

Read the entire article at http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1017831320100311">Reuters US Edition.

--d!

[NNadir]

1. It's really a shame that they had to rely on a 50 year old reactor built with 1950's technology for

this purpose.

It's not surprising though, given the appalling ignorance of people who oppose all nuclear reactors based on the fact that they can't think, don't know shit, and don't give a fuck who dies because of their indifference and stupidity.

I hope the reactor can be repaired quickly and go back to its job of saving lives.

[Statistical]

2. Heavy water is not tritium

Heavy water is water with higher that natural concentration of Deuterium (which is very low at 154ppm).

Deuterium is naturally occurring in all water although is is rare. Only one in 6500 hydrogen atoms is deuterium.

Deuterium is not tritium
Deuterium does not emit radiation (is not radioactive).
Deuterium does not have a half-life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium

"Normal" Hydrogen = 1 proton
Deuterium = 1 proton + neutron
Tritium = 2 proton + neutrons

[Dogmudgeon]

3. You learn something new every day!

Well, *I* do, anyway.

(Cue Carson impression)

"I did not know that."

:hi:

--d!

[Statistical]

4. No problem.

Always good to learn something every day. I learned yesterday that the brakes on a Prius work fine even with engine turned off (when someone schooled me on the the runaway Prius thread). Which now that I think about it makes perfect sense because a hybrid turns the engine on and off as needed.

Canada is one of the few countries who's reactors use heavy water. Not because of any increased health danger but rather economics. Making heavy water (or more technically concentrating since there is billions of gallons of D20 in the ocean) is expensive. The flip side is that heavy water absorbs less neutrons than "normal" water so uranium doesn't need to be enriched.