WR-1

Not to be confused with WR 1.

The Whiteshell Reactor No. 1, or WR-1, was a Canadian research reactor located at AECL's Whiteshell Laboratories (WNRL) in Manitoba. Originally known as Organic-Cooled Deuterium-Reactor Experiment (OCDRE),[1] it was built to test the concept of a CANDU-type reactor that replaced the heavy water coolant with an oil substance. This had a number of potential advantages in terms of cost and efficiency.

The 60 MWth reactor was designed and built by Canadian General Electric for a cost of $14.5 million CAD. The construction started 1 November 1962. [2] It achieved criticality on 1 November 1965[2] and full power in December 1965. An effort to commercialized the design began in 1971 but ended in 1973 when the heavy water cooled units became the standard. From then on WR-1 operated at reduced power limits for irradiation experiments and heating the WNRE site.

WR-1 was shut down for the last time on 17 May 1985, was defuelled, and as of 2013 is undergoing decommissioning scheduled to be completed in 2023.

  1. ^ Saunders 2016, p. 2.
  2. ^ a b "WR-1". Manitoba Branch of the Canadian Nuclear Society. 2005-03-18. Archived from the original on 2005-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-07.