Till date, 43% of the repair activities and associated non-destructive examinations are complete. The overall repair process began on December 12, 2009. The preparations for the next repair using the horizontal weld tool are underway and this repair will incorporate weld build-up applied over two backing strips.
Welders continue to perform practice welds in the NRU mockups to qualify for the next repair. An additional NRU mock-up has been constructed to support welder qualification and to enhance the practice of the full series of repair tasks. The project team continues to work with third-party experts on finalizing detailed repair procedures for the next sequence of repairs.
The company said that every effort is being made to return the NRU to service as soon as possible. However, the program to return the NRU to service is driven by safety, producing a quality repair, conservative decision-making and completion all of the necessary analyses before executing any of the repairs.
AECL added that guidance on the duration of the shutdown continues to be founded on the best evidence available, including the up-to-date analysis of inspection data, progress on repair strategies and critical path requirements for restart after an extended shutdown. NRU’s targeted return-to-service has been updated to April.
The first medical isotopes will begin to be removed from the NRU for processing and distribution within 10 days of the reactor being returned to service.
