FOCUS TOPICS IN RELICENSING OF PICKERING NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AS IT APPROACHES THE END OF COMMERCIAL OPERATION

摘要

Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, the oldest operating nuclear power plant in Canada, recently applied for a renewal of its operating licence. During the next licence period the utility intends to cease power production and start the preparatory activities for a prolonged period of safe storage and eventual decommissioning. This paper describes several areas believed, during the preparation for relicensing, to be the most important in assuring the high levels of safety at the current stage of the plant life. Without underestimating the importance of an overall comprehensive safety assessment, the areas identified as subjects of heightened significance, were 1. Effects of aging on critical components 2. Risk evaluation and reduction with consideration of multi-unit effects 3. Environmental evaluations 4. Emergency response preparedness The Canadian regulatory practice incorporates public input; in fact public interventions are invited and considered during the relicensing hearings. The focus of public interventions mostly matched the above subjects, with the radioactive waste management also attracting significant attention.