D.F. Torgerson Discovery Award: Development of the Darlington Split Die Tool

Awarded to: Alexander Burke, Andrew Kittmer, Eric Sansoucy, Graham Kent, Jayden Franks, Nicholas Simpson, and Terry Schaubel For The Development of the Darlington Split Die Tool

For The Development of the Darlington Split Die Tool

The team was contacted by a vendor to find a solution to the retube challenges that were occurring in one of the Darlington units. Retube was having issues with the removal of calandria tubes from the reactor core due to bulges that were present just inboard of the calandria tube sheet. These bulges would interfere with the tube sheet bore upon removal where interference was significant enough to prevent their removal from the core. The solution developed by the MED team demonstrated a high degree of innovation and creativity, as the tooling was significantly constrained by physical access to the problem site, high radiation, ensuring the reactor would remain capable of being refurbished, and the tight retube timeline. The vendor and the broader nuclear industry recognizes CNL’s role in developing the winning solution for Darlington’s unit. This project demonstrates a high degree of originality. The Split Die Tool did not exist in the suite of tooling that is used when a CANDU® reactor is refurbished. A previously unrealized failure mode required extensive original thinking to develop a successful solution for a demanding customer.