Distinguished Merit Award: MCR chemical decontamination
Arshad Toor, Chris Sanzo, Chris Stewart, Christine Le Ber, Daniel Arnold, Jaleh Semmler, Jody Lynn Tessier, Lori Walters, Louise Newton, and Zahid Khan
For the work on the Bruce Unit 3 MCR chemical decontamination.
In order to reduce the overall worker dose during a reactor component replacement, CNL’s customer decided to conduct a sub-system primary side decontamination.
CNL staff members in Advanced Reactor Materials and Chemistry Branch were sub-contracted to conduct tests to qualify the CAN-DEREM™ process (developed at CNL) decontamination. This was the first CANDU® decontamination in the last 20 years and the choice of the CAN-DEREM™ process over processes offered by competitors highlights CNL’s expertise in decontamination technologies.
Preparation for series of tests started in November 2021. Decontamination tests using inlet and outlet feeder pipes specimens were performed using CNL’s state-of-the-art Research Decontamination (RD) test loop. Tests qualifying the process for application were successfully completed in May 2022.
The customer was very appreciative with CNL’s dedication, capability, and innovative solutions to a number of technical issues such as reagent injection, reducing oxygen concentration in the loop and development of novel analytical procedures.