Pressurised heavy water reactors in Canada and India have celebrated continuous operation milestones in September.
Bruce Power announced, 17 September, that unit 5 at its Bruce B nuclear power station in Ontario has achieved 500 days of uninterrupted service, marking one of the longest runs of continuous operation in company history.
Three of Bruce B's four units have now surpassed 500 days of continuous operation since Bruce Power was formed in 2001, says Brian O'Grady, senior vice president, Bruce B. Unit 8 holds the Bruce site record of 580 days of continuous operation.
On 6 September, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) also announced that Unit 5 at its Rajasthan Atomic Power Station had achieved a continuous run of 765 days of full-power operation.
RAPS 5, a 220 MW pressurized heavy water reactor, was first synchronized to the grid in December 2009 and began commercial operations in February 2010.
In all, Indian nuclear reactors have recorded more than a year of continuous operation on 14 occasions so far, NPCIL said.
According to the World Nuclear Association, the longest operating period for any power reactor belongs to Ontario Power Generation's Pickering 7, which was shut down on 7 October 1994 after operating continuously for 894 days.
Photo: Bruce site in Ontario, Canada
