How does Canada make use of nuclear power?

Question

i have to write an essay and i have no idea what canada uses it for.

Answer 1

It's used to generate electrical power

Answer 2

Wow... Wiki much??

The previous answer is correct though as a person who copies and pastes, I don't believe they should get the best answer.

Canada does use nuclear power for Electricity Generation and Medical Isotope Production.  Forms of it are also used for materials research, and food and water purification.  Canada is also a world leader in Nuclear technology exporting.  They've built reactors in many countries world wide including China and South Korea.  Nuclear reactors are also being considered as a tool for use in the Oil Sands for separating the crude oil from the sand.

Answer 3

Nuclear power in Canada

Canada has an active and independent nuclear power and research sector. A leading exporter of uranium, Canada also exports nuclear technology within the terms of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

* Power Generation *

The province of Ontario dominates Canada’s nuclear industry, containing most of the country’s nuclear power generating capacity. Ontario has 16 operating reactors providing about 50% of the province’s electricity, plus two reactors undergoing refurbishment. Quebec and New Brunswick each have one reactor. Overall, nuclear power provides about 15% of Canada’s electricity with the majority of Canada’s energy as hydro-power.The industry employs about 21,000 people directly and 10,000 indirectly. Canada’s nuclear energy production peaked in 1994 at 102.4 TWh, declined to 67 TWh by 1998 as reactors were mothballed, and increased to 85.6 TWh in 2005 due to improved reactor performance and refurbishment. Recently there has been renewed interest in nuclear energy, spurred by increasing demand (particularly within Ontario), and the desire to comply with Canada’s Kyoto Agreement obligations. The Government of Ontario proposed plans in 2004 to build several new nuclear reactors in the province.

Natural Resources Canada oversees nuclear power R&D and regulation in Canada, with responsibility for the crown corporations Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). AECL’s commercial operations include reactor development, design and construction of CANDU nuclear reactors, and provision of reactor services and technical support to CANDU reactors worldwide. Electricity planning and production are the responsibility of the individual provinces.

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NWMO) was set up in 2002 to investigate and develop an approach to the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. After extensive public consultation over a three-year period, the study report, released in 2005, recommended “Adaptive Phased Management” (see below).

The Province of Ontario has announced plans to build a new nuclear station. The leading candidate is AECL's Advanced CANDU Reactor. Environmental assessments are currently underway for one site next to Bruce Power's Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Tiverton and another next to Ontario Power Generation's Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.

Bruce Power has applied for a license to generate nuclear power at Cardinal Lake.

* Medical Radioisotopes *

Currently, about 85% of the world's medical and industrial Cobalt-60 is produced in Canada. The medical-use Cobalt-60 is produced in the NRU research reactor at AECL's Chalk River Laboratories, while industrial-use Cobalt-60 is produced in selected CANDU power reactors (in these units some adjuster rods are made of Cobalt-59 for this purpose). Furthermore, over half the Cobalt-60 therapy machines and medical sterilizers in the world were built in Canada, treating over half a million patients yearly.

In addition to Cobalt 60, MDS Nordion also produces radioisotopes that are essential in diagnostic therapy. Some can be mixed chemically with other substances and injected into the body to allow physicians to “see” into the body, even the brain, lungs and organs that hitherto were inaccessible. Not only have these diagnostic techniques eliminated the need for much exploratory surgery, they have provided physicians with diagnostic capabilities that would otherwise have been impossible. Mild irradiation is also used to sterilize many medical supplies and some pharmaceuticals.

Canada was also a pioneer in the production of medical isotopes, and today produces most of the world's supply of Molybdenum-99, the "workhorse" and most commonly-used isotope in nuclear medicine. Today this isotope is generated in the NRU reactor; this is then supplied to MDS Nordion, a global supplier of radiopharmaceuticals based in Kanata, Ontario (near Ottawa). There are more than 4000 Mo-99 treatments daily in Canada, and 40,000 daily in the US. Canada produces about 60% of the global supply of molybdenum-99.

*  Uranium Production *

Canada is the world’s largest producer of uranium with about one third of world production coming from Saskatchewan mines. There are two major players in the uranium mining sector.

Cameco operates the McArthur River mine, which started production at the end of 1999. Its ore is milled at Key Lake, which once contributed 15% of world uranium production but is now mined out. Its other former mainstay is Rabbit Lake mine, which still has some reserves at Eagle Point mine, where mining resumed in mid 2002 after a three-year break. An underground reserve replacement program is adding to reserves faster than they are being mined.

Areva Resources Canada operates the McClean Lake mine, which started production in mid 1999. Its Cluff Lake mine has now closed, and is being decommissioned.

In December 2004, the Cigar Lake Joint Venture (AREVA Resources Canada 37.1%, Cameco Corporation 50.025%, Idemitsu Uranium Exploration Canada Ltd. 7.875%, and TEPCO Resources 5%) partners agreed to proceed with development of the Cigar Lake uranium mine -the second largest known high-grade uranium deposit in the world, after McArthur River. With federal and provincial approvals in place, full construction began in January 2005.

All of Canada's uranium production now comes from the high-grade unconformity-type uranium deposits of the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan, such as Rabbit Lake, McClean Lake, McArthur River, and Cigar Lake.

The uranium industry invested at least CDN $3.5 billion during the 20th century, with capital investment in mines of CDN $2.5 billion, and exploration and predevelopment expenditures exceeding CDN $1 billion. Adjusting for inflation, there have been three investment booms. The first small one came with the initial developments in the Beaverlodge area in the 1950s. The second and largest boom was in the 1970s, with the opening of the Cluff and Rabbit lake mines, and the third was in the 1990s with the development of the higher grade ores on the east side.

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