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CANDU Reactor

KAN-doo
Also Known As Canada Deuterium Uranium Reactor
Nuclear Reactor

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CANDU, short for Canada Deuterium Uranium, is the pressurized heavy-water reactor design Canada developed from the late 1950s, using heavy water as both moderator and coolant so the reactor can run on natural, unenriched uranium rather than the enriched fuel other reactor lines require. The World Nuclear Association dates the first commercial CANDU units to Pickering, Ontario, in 1971; the natural-uranium fuel cycle trades away the cost of enrichment against the added cost of producing heavy water.

Facts
Technology Type
Nuclear Reactor 1
Invented Year
1971 1
1971 marks the first commercial units at Pickering, Ontario; design work began in the late 1950s.
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Sources
1. World Nuclear Association Information Library
World Nuclear AssociationNuclear Power in Canada
Quote, Nuclear Power in Canada
The first commercial Candu reactors began operation in Pickering, Ontario, in 1971.
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