The following areas of technical services and projects are examples of Atlantic Nuclear’s experience with past and current projects.

Thermalhydraulics

• Analysis support for safe operating envelope, design changes, outage management and safety analysis. ANS staff have developed most of the primary and secondary side idealizations of the Point Lepreau GS for the CATHENA two-phase thermalhydraulic code.
• CANDU-6 systems and CANDU test facilities have been modelled with RELAP.
• The PHOENICS 3D code has been used for detailed modelling of circuit features and containment.

Reactor Physics

Analysis support for safe operating envelope, design changes, outage management and safety analysis. ANS staff have experience with the full reactor physics range -- from ENDF data manipulation to lattice codes, diffusion codes, Monte Carlo analysis (MCNP), shielding assessments, decay heat calculations with CANDU specific libraries, criticality analysis, etc. There has been on-going work in verification, validation and maintenance of the RFSP code.

Safety Assessments/Reviews

• Structural analysis support for proposed design changes, outage support for system inspections (particularly snubber removals) and assessments of anomalous piping configurations. We use the PIPESTRESS code, obtained from DST in Geneva.
• Environmental Qualification assessments for a range of safety related systems at Point Lepreau.
• Performed a Periodic Safety Review (IAEA) to support the refurbishment of Point Lepreau for life extension.

Licensing Basis

• Preparation of safety reports and updates for both operating stations and waste management facilities.
• Review of station events, procedures and practices against licensing basis requirements for operation.
• Training of plant management and staff on requirements of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act and the Regulations.
• Safety reviews and assessments to demonstrate compliance with the licensing basis of a station.

Safeguards

• Develop procedures for implementation of the Additional Protocol dealing with Complementary and Managed Access Areas for short notice inspections at Point Lepreau.
• Coordinate IAEA inspections and maintenance including the quarterly verification visits, and coverage of fuel transfers to the Dry Spent Fuel Storage canisters.
• Prepare licence applications for fuel transfer.

Safe Operating Envelope

• Development of the Impairments Manual for the Point Lepreau GS which implements the SOE for the special safety systems.
• Technical support for the DOA program at Point Lepreau. This program is a detailed safety review to ensure alignment of the safety analysis, design and operating procedures for safety systems.
• Training of station staff on the requirements and implementation of the SOE.

PSA/Reliability

• Technical support for Level 1 and 2 PSA’s at Point Lepreau and Embalse.
• Development of fault tree models for various safety related systems using the CAFTA code suite.
• Training of Point Lepreau staff on PSA methodology Level 1 and 2, including Human Reliability Assessment.
• Incorporating Common Cause Failure (CCF) into the fault trees for SDS1 and SDS2 at Point Lepreau.
• Plant walkdowns for Fire/Flood PSA and Seismic PSA at Point Lepreau.

Software Quality Assurance

• The preparation of verification and validation packages to meet the CSA N286.7 standard for all safety significant codes developed and used at the Point Lepreau GS. Approximately 25 code suites comprising some 100 programs are included in the project covering fuelling, physics, core performance and core monitoring.
• Audit of all PLGS in-house codes against the regulatory requirement to comply with the standard N286.7, Quality Assurance of Analytical, Scientific and Design Computer Programs for Nuclear Power Plants.

Safety Management

• Atlantic Nuclear developed a benefit-cost analysis (BCA) methodology to be used in evaluating the safety case for proposed design changes. The BCA methodology is being published as a COG document for use by the industry.
• Monitoring of management staff at Point Lepreau on objectives and principles for implementing safety in the design and operation of the station. This mentoring is part of the qualification of staff to act as an alternate Station Manager.
• Assessment of the safety significance of events for input to the Corrective Action program at Point Lepreau.
• Participation in a working group on risk informed decision making in licensing of CANDU reactors.
• Participation in the Safety & Licensing Steering Committee for the refurbishment of Point Lepreau.

Fire Hazard Assessment & Fire Protection

• Developed a methodology for assessing the safety significance of fires for nuclear safety in the Fire Hazard Assessment for Point Lepreau.
• Analysis of cable routing and plant walkdowns to determine need for improved protection to ensure Group I/II separation of safety functions in the event of a fire.
• Third party reviews of design changes for compliance with CSA-N293-95, Fire Protection for CANDU Nuclear Power Plants.

Performance Monitoring

• Develop methods for core monitoring of channel flow, time averaged flux shape, flux tilts and related core parameters.
• Development and implementation of the EMASE monitoring and diagnostic system for system health monitoring at Point Lepreau.
• Development and maintenance of procedures for calibrating the ROP system detectors.

Training Development & Delivery

• Development and delivery of system specific training modules for the certification of operators at the Point Lepreau, Bruce A and Bruce B stations.
• Development of Operating Policies and Principles training basis documentation for the operator certification programs at the Bruce A and Bruce B stations.
• Development and delivery of a safety training course for the operator certification program at Bruce A&B covering the safety objectives and principles applied in implementing the safe operating envelope. The course consists of 15 modules covering topics including defence in depth, licensing basis, safety management, configuration control, plant monitoring and maintenance, safety culture and OPEX.
• Delivery of Reactor Safety training for the nuclear generals training program for operator certification at Point Lepreau.
• Design, development and delivery of mentoring for the certification program for Shift Supervisors at Point Lepreau. This training was developed to meet the regulatory requirements for reactor safety training of Shift Supervisor candidates.
• Design, development and delivery of training for the Technical Unit at Point Lepreau covering the design basis, licensing basis and operational configuration control.