ROP Design for Enhanced CANDU 6 Reactor

Abstract

The Enhanced CANDU 6[1] (EC6) nuclear power plant is a mid-sized pressurized heavy water reactor design, based on the highly successful CANDU 6 (C6) family of power plants, upgraded to meet today’s Canadian and international safety requirements and to satisfy Generation III expectations. The EC6 reactor is equipped with two independent Regional Overpower Protection (ROP) systems to prevent overpowers in the reactor fuel. The ROP system design, retaining the traditional C6 methodology, is determined to cover the End-of-Life (EOL) reactor core condition since the reactor operating/thermal margin gradually decreases as plant equipment ages. Several design changes have been incorporated into the reference C6 plant to mitigate the ageing effect on the ROP trip margin. This paper outlines the basis for the EC6 ROP physics design and presents the ROP related improvements made in the EC6 design to ensure that full power operation is not limited by the ROP throughout the entire life of the reactor.