The Westinghouse AP1000 pressurised water reactor has completed Phase 2 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission pre-project design review.
The objective of a pre-project design review is to verify, at a high level, the acceptability of a nuclear reactor design with respect to Canadian safety requirements and criteria, including the identification of fundamental barriers to licensing a new reactor design in Canada.
The Phase 1 review involves an overall assessment of a presented conceptual reactor design against the most recent CNSC design requirements for new nuclear power plants in Canada. Phase 2 goes into further detail and focuses on identifying any potential fundamental barriers to licensing a reactor design in Canada.
For Phase 2, Westinghouse presented a completed AP1000 reactor design, providing what it describes as a significantly higher level of assurance that the AP1000 design has taken into account Canadian regulatory requirements and expectations, safety analysis methodologies, and lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster. Additionally, as in the Phase 1 review, the Phase 2 review of the AP1000 reactor was conducted against all related CNSC regulatory documents and Canadian codes and standards.
The AP1000 plant is the first Generation III+ design to receive design certification from the USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In addition to the United States and Canada, the AP1000 plant has undergone detailed reviews in China and the United Kingdom. Eight AP1000 units are currently under construction worldwide, with four units each in the United States and in China.
