NRU Status Report #72 - AECL provides update on NRU activities

CHALK RIVER, ON, Aug. 20 /CNW/ - The following information bulletin is in accordance with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's (AECL) ongoing commitment to voluntary public disclosure of events related to the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL).

AECL reports that as part of NRU return to service activities, a planned reactor shut down is scheduled for early next week. 

During this planned outage, AECL will remove specialized start-up instrumentation used for NRU's restart and conduct post return to service testing. 

The shutdown will have a duration of less than two days and will not interrupt the production of Molybdenum-99 isotopes.

As part of NRU's ongoing operations, the reactor will be operated on a 28 day cycle, which will include a regularly scheduled five-day outage.   During these outages, planned maintenance and other supporting operations activities will be completed.

In addition to the scheduled 5 day outages, a planned extended outage of NRU is scheduled for next spring.  This will enable AECL to carry out more extensive maintenance and inspection and to fulfill our obligation to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

The production of medical isotopes is a key element of AECL's core mission. Returning the NRU to service diligently and safely, to support Canadian patients and healthcare practitioners has been our top priority.  The NRU return to service also allows AECL to continue to provide important research support to scientists and universities from across Canada and around the world. 

AECL will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

For further information:

Robin Forbes
Manager, External Communications
AECL, 1-866-886-2325