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Long-term strategy calls for up to 10 new reactors in Canada
Canada has launched a Nuclear Energy Strategy, a long-term vision of its nuclear power potential that includes plans to deploy up to 10 new large-scale reactors in the country by 2040.
The June 22 announcement, along with ongoing projects at Darlington and Bruce Power, further confirm Canada's ambitions to expand its nuclear power presence not just domestically but also abroad. Four pillars stand at the heart of the country’s Nuclear Energy Strategy: new nuclear builds in Canada, maintaining its status as a top nuclear supplier and exporter, expanding uranium production, and continuing nuclear fission and fusion innovations.
Lingyan Zhao, Bin Yang, Yuchun Sun
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 199 | Number 9 | September 2025 | Pages 1512-1527
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2456369
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The accurate evaluation of structural integrity necessitates considering the influence of crack-tip constraints and selecting laboratory test specimens that accurately represent the actual welded structure. In this paper, a constraint parameter Dp covering in-plane constraint and out-of-plane constraint is defined based on the equivalent plastic strain gradient at the adjacent zone of the crack front. The USDFLD (user-defined field) subroutine is employed to correlate the mechanical property parameters of the continuous transition with the geometry of the dissimilar metal-welded joint (DMWJ). The submodel technique is used to study the crack-tip constraint of a typical DMWJ under complex loading conditions. The crack-tip constraints of DMWJs are quantitatively characterized. A comparison and analysis are carried out to determine the suitable test specimens for the DMWJs with various crack lengths and locations.
The results show that the cracks located at the center of the specimens are more likely to propagate than surface cracks. The interface of SA508/52Mb is the most dangerous position in DMWJs. The constraint levels of SA508/52Mb cracks match those of the center-cracked tension [CC(T)] specimens with smaller width and thickness. Overly conservative estimation results will be produced if compact tension [C(T)] and single-edge notched bend [SEN(B)] specimens with larger width and thickness are adopted to evaluate the stress corrosion cracking behavior of SA508/52Mb cracks.
The constraint levels of 52Mb/52Mw cracks match those of the CC(T) and SEN(B) specimens with smaller width and thickness. The 52Mw/316L cracks match the C(T) specimens with larger width and thickness. Nonconservative results will be produced when the CC(T) and SEN(B) specimens are adopted to evaluate 52Mw/316L cracks.
This study provides a more accurate method for the structural integrity assessment of DMWJs that can help improve the safety and reliability of critical engineering welded structures such as nuclear power plants.
