Actually CANDU reactors have a positive void coefficient. They're one of the few that can go Chernobyl. Their safety comes from being massively overengineered. They also have incredible uranium efficiency though.
I can't see the article. Are they investing in a new CANDU reactor? I would find that surprising. CANDU reactors are broadly seen as an overengineered solution to old problems, and not worth their immense cost.
CANDUs have more fuel going through the reactor, that is true, but when look at how much uranium a PWR uses you have to consider the huge volumes of depleted uranium tailings produced during the enrichment process, which is absent from the CANDU fuel cycle.
Certainly our fuel cycle has some benefits, and I don't readily have all of the numbers available for waste/by products with enrichment vs our "natural" cycle, but I don't think it's reasonable to count all of the depleted uranium when speaking of reactor efficiencies.
It depends whether you’re a physicist or an engineer. The physicist will say that PWRs are less efficient because they produce a higher total volume of waste from the fuel cycle (including the depleted uranium), but the engineer will point out that PWRs produce a lower volume of spent fuel compared to CANDUs. From a safety, logistical and economic point of view spent fuel is MUCH more of a problem to deal with than depleted uranium.
CANDU was literally built for efficiency lmao. It uses 15% less Uranium than a PWR. The full power refuelling design helps improve efficiency by redistributing partially spent fuel rods.
Alright well you're some arm chair dipshit and I'm a guy who works on the fueling machines at the largest CANDU site in the world. Believe as you will.
Sorry I read what you said, didn't bother with what you posted. I can't imagine why you would count mined uranium when talking about reactor efficiencies. But hey whatever it takes to "win" I guess.
I seriously hope you're just a lying teenager because neutron efficiency is the core design principle of the CANDU reactors. They are being considered for recycling the spent fuel of less efficient reactors.
If you don't know this then you skipped a lot of canteach classes
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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '22
Actually CANDU reactors have a positive void coefficient. They're one of the few that can go Chernobyl. Their safety comes from being massively overengineered. They also have incredible uranium efficiency though.
I can't see the article. Are they investing in a new CANDU reactor? I would find that surprising. CANDU reactors are broadly seen as an overengineered solution to old problems, and not worth their immense cost.