Felicia Ochs
Whitecourt Star
May 16, 2007

Currently, there are no Candu ACR-100 models in operation in Canada. President of Energy Alberta, Wayne Henuset, calls the ACR-100 an upgraded Candu 6 model, which is under operation throughout Canada. "[The ACR-100] is an advancement and we’re not changing the world here," Henuset said.

"It’s a car with four wheels, we’re not making a car with three or two, so it’s basically a car, but it’s a newer version of the Cadillac." Henuset said that the construction of the new ACR-100 would be part of a nuclear renaissance happening throughout the world.

Executive director of Energy Probe, a consumer and environmental research team, Thomas M. Adams, said he would not likely compare any of the Candu reactor models with the Cadillac.

"This renaissance thing is a marketing technique only . . . what we’re seeing is that what the industry and politicians are calling a renaissance experience is really a nuclear rerun," Adams said. "It’s the same old, same old, and we’ve been to this movie before." While the Candu reactors boast a strong safety record historically, Adams said that the reliability of the product has not delivered, especially in Ottawa, where most of Adams’s research has been conducted.

"It you look at all of the data, one of the things that you can conclude is that the Candu has not been as reliable of technology as other nuclear technologies," Adams said.

"We’ve seen many, many instances of reactors that have experienced unplanned, multi-year full station shut downs, so the reliability case for Candu is coloured by long periods of severe liability problems." Henuset said that this is just not right.

"The Candu has had some problems, but their efficiency rate in the last seven or eight reactors, they’re running between 90 and 95 per cent efficiency," Henuset said.

"The Candu reactor is the highest of all the reactors in the world for online efficiency-wise."

Besides efficiency, Adams contended that the cost of the Candu reactors also comes into historical picture of Canada’s relationship with nuclear power.

"What’s interesting is that if you walk back into the history of reactors in Canada is that every single reactor has been behind schedule and over budget. The earliest reactors had the least cost over-runs and least delays," Adams said.

"As the industry gains more experience, the delays and cost over-runs grew greater . . . as reactors were operating around the world, we learned more and more about the safety problems."

Henuset responded that all of the models are comparable.

"Candu is in the top five reactors in the world to date and that’s the good thing about using Candu technology is that it’s Canadian – we’re familiar with it."

Henuset concluded that any problem regarding renaissance of the Candu design model should not concern the public because the issues will not fall into the hands of the provincial government.

"This isn’t the government buying [the ACL-1000], I’m buying my own car," Henuset said.

“I’ve done the studies and I’ve already looked at the problems that you run into with Ariva and Westinghouse and I don’t want any of those problems, so it’s my choice."