NRU Status Report #66 - AECL provides update on NRU activities

Chalk River Information Bulletin

(2010 July 21) The following information bulletin is in accordance with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's (AECL) ongoing commitment to voluntary public disclosure of events related to the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL).

AECL reports that progress continues on the NRU return-to-service activities. The return-to-service team has completed commissioning of startup instrumentation - specialized equipment required for the restart of the reactor after the extended outage. Installation of the target assemblies for the production of medical isotopes has been completed and loading of the reactor fuel is in progress. Part of the Return-to-Service project plan includes reactivating the NRU’s auxiliary operating systems. To date, 30 of the 35 NRU systems are now in service.

The restart schedule is challenging with more than 3,000 different restart activities that must be completed prior to returning the reactor to service. Significant progress has been made on completing these activities with several hundred remaining.

Guidance on the duration of the shutdown continues to be founded on the best evidence available, and completing the critical path requirements for restart after an extended shutdown. It is estimated that NRU will resume isotope production by the end of July as planned. At this critical time, any unforeseen delays could extend the NRU’s return-to-service schedule by several days. Further guidance on the return-to-service date will be provided when more information becomes available.

CNSC safety inspectors continue to provide independent regulatory oversight of AECL activities at the Chalk River site.

The NRU continues to be in a safe shutdown state with return to service activities in progress.

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Contact:

Dale Coffin
Director, Corporate Communications
AECL, 1-866-886-2325