位于安大略汉密尔顿的麦克马斯特大学的先进核能系统(CANS)新中心，明年初将全面运作。该中心将检查反应堆材料的辐照，这将有助于延长加拿大省的核电单位的寿命。A new Centre for Advanced Nuclear Systems (CANS) at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, is due to be fully operational early next year. The centre will examine the irradiation of reactor materials, which will help in the life extension of the Canadian province's nuclear power units.

CANS—五个设施网络致力于核系统的研究—已经六年规划。已经从加拿大创新基金会，安大略研究和创新部和私人捐赠获得资助2450万加元(1810万美元)。The CANS - a network of five facilities dedicated to the study of nuclear systems - has been six years in planning. It has been funded by CAD 24.5 million ($18.1 million) from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and private donations.

中心的目的，根据核安全项目负责人John Luxat教授，是为了更好地理解组件在核反应堆中当遭受强烈的中子辐照时的寿命，本质上材料如何随时间改变和降解。该中心将为核工业、特别是安大略省的三个核电站—布鲁斯,皮克林和达灵顿提供实验室支持。The aim of the centre, according to project leader professor of nuclear safety John Luxat, is to better understand the lifespan of components in nuclear reactors when subjected to intense neutron irradiation, essentially how materials change and degrade over time. The centre will provide laboratory support to the nuclear industry, particularly Ontario's three nuclear power plants - Bruce, Pickering and Darlington.

“如果我们更好地理解这些过程，我们将能够在昂贵的翻新之间延长运行寿命,“ Luxat说。"If we understand these processes better, we can extend operational life between expensive refurbishments," Luxat said.

CANS新设施中最大的是位于麦克马斯特加速器实验室的核材料辐照后检验设施。这个热室实验室也是设施网络中最昂贵的，花费约CAD1700万(1300万美元)。The largest of the new CANS facilities is the Nuclear Materials Post Irradiation Examination Facility located in the McMaster Accelerator Laboratory. This hot cells laboratory is also the most expensive of the network's facilities, costing some CAD 17 million ($13 million).

该设施有五个屏蔽工作站，每个包含厚厚的注铅玻璃屏蔽窗口和一双遥控操纵器用于操作并处理材料过程：接受、加工、加工和废物处理、样品制备、机械测试和光学显微镜。The facility has five shielded workstations, each consisting of a thick lead-infused glass shielding window and a pair of remote manipulators for handling materials and processing it through the receiving, machining and waste handling, sample preparation, mechanical testing and light microscopy areas.

该热室由美国公司Merrick & Company 经过2年时间定制设计并于2013年完成。仅这五只注铅窗成本就达近170万加元(合130万美元)。The hot cells were custom designed by US firm over a two-year period and were completed in 2013. The five lead-infused windows alone cost almost CAD 1.7 million ($1.3 million).

Luxat说，该热室实验室的规模和能力是世界任何地方位于大学里的唯一一个。Luxat said the hot cells laboratory is the only one at a university of its size and capabilities anywhere in the world.

CANS的其他部分包括核热工测试设施；一个使用正电子湮没谱学研究材料缺陷的实验室；和一个核材料表征设施。Other parts of the CANS include a nuclear thermal-hydraulic testing facility; a laboratory for studying material defects using positron annihilation spectroscopy; and a nuclear materials characterization facility.

所有这些设施都将在明年年初投入运行。All these facilities are set to be in operation early next year.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News