Canadian Nuclear Laboratories completes refuelling of Royal Military College’s SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor
CNL’s team in reactor physics and fuels conducted the refuelling and commissioning phases for the Royal Military College SLOWPOKE-2 reactor. Other CNL experts in the environmental remediation, engineering and radiation protection teams contributed to ensure the project was conducted safely. The work extends the operating life of the research reactor by another 30 years.
SEPT. 27, 2021 – Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, is pleased to announce that it has safely completed a project to refuel the Royal Military College of Canada’s (RMC) SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor. As a low-power, self-regulating reactor, the SLOWPOKE-2 is used by RMC to produce neutrons for professional development and academic research, including nuclear and radiological forensic expertise, and rapid response capabilities for environmental and nuclear emergencies, primarily by the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces.
As Canada’s national nuclear laboratory, CNL was uniquely positioned to complete all phases of the work, using Canada’s only team licenced by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to maintain the reactor. Throughout the project, care was taken to ensure the safety of the workforce, protection of the environment, and security of the materials.
“As an integrated organization, CNL has the necessary expertise in engineering, manufacturing, fuel development, physics, radiation protection, and certainly nuclear security, to conduct this work. I’m very proud of everyone who helped bring this project to a safe and successful conclusion,” commented Joe McBrearty, CNL President and Chief Executive Officer. “Having recently completed both decommissioning and refuelling activities for SLOWPOKE reactors in other jurisdictions, we were able to draw on that experience to safely complete this project for our customer.”
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