Systems View of CANDU Reactor Retubing

Abstract

This paper attempts to give readers an overview of the various systems involved in the successful implementation of a CANDU reactor retubing program. The intent of the paper is to stress the importance of adopting a systems approach to minimize workers' dose and outage duration. The views presented are based on author's personal site experience during the retubing of four CANDU reactors at Ontario Hydro's Pickering "A" station. The paper deals with systems and site engineering aspects of retube work pertaining mainly to the fuel channel removal and installation phases of the outage.