all nuclear power plants in Canada use CANDU reactors a safe reliable reactor design that has multiple

safety systems to minimize the likelihood of an accident and in the event that an accident occurs
minimizes consequences it's important to understand that however severe an accident nuclear
reactors in this country can safely shut down and contain radioactivity this video will explain how this
works nuclear power plants have several safety systems that act as backups to each other they
perform three fundamental safety functions controlling the reactor and shutting it down cooling the
reactor and containing radiation but first let's look at how a nuclear power plant works can do nuclear
reactors produce heat by splitting atoms of natural uranium this produces heat to convert water into
steam which spins a turbine or generator to make electricity once used the uranium or nuclear fuel is
kept in pools for about six to ten years to keep it cool and provide shielding against radiation unlike
Fukushima spent fuel pools that can do nuclear power plants are constructed in the ground to help
you understand how the different safety systems work in an accident let's look at an accident scenario
where there is a total station blackout this is what happened in Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant after a 15 meter high tsunami flooded it in 2011 a total station blackout means there are
no longer any power sources available to the station it's important to note that this type of accident
would take several days to develop and is extremely unlikely given the safety systems in place when
off site or grid power is lost the station itself produces enough electricity to maintain all of its systems
at a multi-unit nuclear power plant one reactor can provide enough power to maintain all of the other
units if on site power is also lost for some reason shut down systems are activated automatically and
the reactor stops within two to three seconds can do reactors have two independent fast-acting the
shut down systems that work without power or worker intervention even though the reactor is shut
down the fuel inside the reactor continues to produce heat and needs to be cooled this heat is called
decay heat and represents a small fraction of the heat produced during normal operation to reduce
this heat natural circulation takes over when the pumps that normally push the coolant through the
heat transport system lose power and stop working for natural circulation to continue overtime the
steam generators need to be filled with cool water standby power operate pumps that provide this
cool water to the steam generators a nuclear power plant needs one or two standby power generators
depending on the size of the plant but as a precaution all plants in Canada have three or four available
if for some reason standby power generators stopped working emergency power generators are then
used a nuclear power plant requires only one emergency power generator to provide enough
electricity to power all of the important safety systems but again as a precaution all nuclear power
plants have at least two emergency power generators on site at this point to maintain natural
circulation pressure relief valves on the steam generator system open automatically to remove heat
the steam that is vented into the environment is clean and not radioactive water continues to be
added in the steam generators by pumps powered by the emergency power generators together the
pressure relief valves and the added water maintain natural circulation to safely cool the reactor
though unlikely let's keep going and assume the emergency power generators stopped working we
now have a total station blackout this means all power sources used to cool the reactor and spent fuel
pool including off-site power on-site power and the standby and emergency power generators are all
unavailable batteries are now powering emergency lighting and essential instrumentation water is
now being added by a gravity driven system connected to a reserved water storage tank this keeps
enough water in the steam generator to maintain natural circulation this also allows time for
emergency mitigation equipment to be put in place emergency mitigation equipment includes
portable pumps portable power generators and fire trucks these can be used to add water directly into
the plant's systems and ensure vital monitoring equipment is available this is a new layer of protection
that was added to Canadian nuclear power plants as part of Canada's response to the accident in Japan
in a total station blackout the large amount of water in the spent fuel pools would slowly heat up
workers would manually add water as necessary to keep the spent fuel covered by water and cooled it
is important to remember that up to this point there have been no releases of radiation into the
environment and no damage to the reactor with the situation under control the reactor can return to
normal operation after a number of safety checks are performed though extremely unlikely let's say all
of these systems fail the emergency mitigation equipment stops working and the water in the steam
generators evaporates the heavy water in the heat transport system starts to boil and radioactive
steam is released and contained in the reactor building once the water in that system boils away there
is limited fuel damage if nothing is done at this point the 250,000 litres of heavy water inside the
calandria starts to heat up the calandria is what holds the fuel supplying water to the calandria using
emergency equipment such as fire trucks would stop the accident assuming the accident is not stopped
the reactor begins to overheat and the heavy water boils away radioactive steam is released
automatically into the reactor building the fuel continues to overheat and the reactor is significantly
damaged at this point internal pressure inside the reactor building must be lowered in a single unit
station internal pressure is lowered by spraying water from the dousing tank in a multi-unit station
pressure is lowered by releasing steam and hot gases from the reactor building to the vacuum building
the vacuum building is a structure specifically designed to quickly and safely lower pressure inside the
reactor buildings both systems work without power again supplying water to the calandria using
emergency equipment such as fire trucks would stop the accident assuming the accident is not
stopped all remaining heavy water evaporates the exposed fuel begins to melt and the reactor core
starts to collapse inside the calandria the vault that holds the calandria also holds about five hundred
thousand liters of additional water that water now starts to heat up when nuclear fuel melts it creates
hydrogen and explosive gas you may remember this from the events in Japan in Canada special devices
that convert the hydrogen to water have been installed at nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of
explosion these devices also work without power at this point federal provincial and municipal
emergency plans have been activated to protect the public health officials have evacuated the area to
prepare for controlled venting of either the vaccum building or reactor building controlled filtered
venting lowers the internal pressure and reduces the amount of radiation being let out into the
environment once again supplying water to the calandria and vault using emergency equipment such
as fire trucks would stop the accident assuming the accident is not stopped all remaining water in the
reactor vault would evaporate and the reactor fuel would melt onto a thick concrete slab in this
extremely unlikely but severe scenario the reactor building would continue to isolate the reactor from
the environment and contain radioactivity after the accident recovery operations would begin to
secure the site for its eventual cleanup and decontamination the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials in Canada to protect the health and safety of
Canadians and the environment we ensure every nuclear power plant meets rigorous safety and
operation standards to prevent accidents in the first place and should one occur minimize its
consequences