Editing CANDU reactor (section)

{{Short description|Canadian heavy water nuclear reactor design}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

[[File:CANDU at Qinshan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant|Qinshan]] Phase III units 1 and 2, located in [[Zhejiang]], China.]]

The '''CANDU''' ('''CANada Deuterium Uranium''') is a Canadian [[pressurized heavy-water reactor]] design used to generate electric power.<ref name=":0" /> The acronym refers to its [[deuterium]] oxide ([[heavy water]]) [[neutron moderator|moderator]] and its use of (originally, [[natural uranium|natural]]) [[uranium]] fuel. CANDU reactors were first developed in the late 1950s and 1960s by a partnership between [[Atomic Energy of Canada Limited]] (AECL), the [[Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario]], [[Canadian General Electric]], and other companies.

There have been two major types of CANDU reactors, the original design of around 500&nbsp;[[Watt#MWe|MW<sub>e</sub>]] that was intended to be used in multi-reactor installations in large plants, and the optimized '''CANDU 6''' in the 600&nbsp;MW<sub>e</sub> class that is designed to be used in single stand-alone units or in small multi-unit plants. CANDU 6 units were built in [[Quebec]] and [[New Brunswick]], as well as Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, Romania, and China. A single example of a non-CANDU 6 design was sold to India. The multi-unit design was used only in [[Ontario]], Canada, and grew in size and power as more units were installed in the province, reaching ~880&nbsp;MW<sub>e</sub> in the units installed at the [[Darlington Nuclear Generating Station]]. An effort to optimize the larger units in a fashion similar to CANDU 6 led to the '''CANDU 9'''.

By the early 2000s, sales prospects for the original CANDU designs were dwindling due to the introduction of newer designs from other companies. AECL responded by cancelling CANDU 9 development and moving to the [[Advanced CANDU reactor]] (ACR) design. ACR failed to find any buyers; its last potential sale was for an expansion at Darlington, but this was cancelled in 2009. In October 2011, the Canadian Federal Government licensed the CANDU design to [[Candu Energy]] (a wholly owned subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin, now the [[AtkinsRéalis|AtkinsRéalis Group Inc.]]), which also acquired the former reactor development and marketing division of AECL at that time. Candu Energy offers support services for existing sites and is completing formerly stalled installations in Romania and Argentina through a partnership with [[China National Nuclear Corporation]]. SNC Lavalin, the successor to AECL, is pursuing new CANDU 6 reactor sales in Argentina (Atucha 3), as well as China and Britain{{cn|date=December 2024}}. Sales effort for the ACR reactor has ended.

In 2017, a consultation with industry led [[Natural Resources Canada]] to establish a "SMR Roadmap"<ref>{{cite web | url = https://smrroadmap.ca/ | title = Canadian Small Modular Reactors: SMR Roadmap | access-date = 25 September 2020}}</ref> targeting the development of [[small modular reactor]]s (SMRs). In response, SNC-Lavalin developed a 300&nbsp;MW<sub>e</sub> SMR version of the CANDU, the '''CANDU SMR''', which it began to highlight on its website.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.snclavalin.com/en/markets-and-services/markets/energy/nuclear#smrs | title = SMRs |work = www.snclavelin.com | access-date = 25 September 2020}}</ref> In 2020, the CANDU SMR was not selected for further design work for a Canadian demonstration project. SNC-Lavalin is still looking at marketing a 300 MW SMR in part due to projected demand due to [[climate change mitigation]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=McGrath |first1=John Michael |title=The two big name companies that will not be designing Ontario's next reactor |url=https://www.tvo.org/article/the-two-big-name-companies-that-wont-be-designing-ontarios-next-nuclear-reactor |website=TVO |access-date=4 March 2021}}</ref>