Polytechnique looks to revive nuclear studies as Quebec’s only reactor turns 50

“Slowpoke” is a suitable name for Quebec’s only working nuclear reactor. It only produces about 20 kilowatts of thermal energy, or enough to power six or seven toasters.

But scientists and administrators at Polytechnique Montréal hope the reactor, which turns 50 this year, will help spur a revival of nuclear science research in a province where it’s been slowly fizzling out.

Slowpoke, which stands for Safe Low-Power Kritical Experiment, looks nothing like the images most people would associate with a nuclear reactor. It’s described as a “sealed-container in-pool type research reactor,” and, as the description suggests, it sits in a deep pool, with no cooling towers. A steady mechanical hum fills a small room in Polytechnique where only the top of the opening can be seen, flanked by orange-painted concrete blocks.

Over the years, it’s been used both for research purposes and to train generations of aspiring scientists, said Nicolas Godbout, the director of engineering physics at Polytechnique Montréal.

“I think that our biggest legacy is the hundreds of highly qualified personnel that have been formed, the expertise,” he said. “And we see a real need to redevelop and ensure that this expertise continues.”

Continuing that expertise will take some work, however.

Fifty years ago, Canada was “pretty much in a leadership position” in the field of nuclear engineering, Godbout said.

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The engineering school was also a big part of that expertise, with personnel supporting operations at the now-decommissioned Gentilly-2 nuclear power facility in Bécancour, Que., and contributing research used to design the country’s Candu reactors.

But today, the generation of researchers who once led the field are “pretty much all retired,” Godbout said.

Foutse Khomh, vice-president of research and innovation at Polytechnique Montréal, says the school is taking steps to reinvigorate its nuclear studies.

The university is receiving a $1-million donation over five years from the engineering company AtkinsRéalis in order to create a new nuclear engineering research chair, and Khomh is hoping more industry players will also contribute.

Even as some sectors of society remain opposed, there is a renewed interest in nuclear energy, driven by growing energy needs and climate targets. That includes in Canada, where Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta signed a plan to develop small reactors in 2022. Last month, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced he’s looking at building two large reactors somewhere in the province’s northwest by 2042.

But Khomh points out that nuclear research has uses in a wide variety of fields, beyond energy.

“There are a lot of medical applications,” he said. “You also have applications, for example, in mineral exploration and exploitation and so on.”

Regardless of what energy choices are made, “our role as a university is to make sure that we train the engineers that will be ready to answer the call of the society,” he said, adding that the school hopes to hire five professors in the coming years.

The experts at Polytechnique say the Slowpoke reactor can play an important role in research and training, despite its age.

The reactor is currently used to provide quality assurance for companies by measuring the elements in different products or materials through a process called neutron activation analysis, reactor manager Darren Hall says.

He explains that samples are placed into the reactor, where they become lightly radioactive. They are then removed and placed on a detector. By looking at the “energy signature” coming from the radiation, researchers can then quantify the different elements in the material, Hall says.

“Kind of like when you’re looking at your cereal box at home and you look at the side ingredients and you see sodium, 10 per cent,” he said. “We essentially do the same thing.”

As examples, he said the process can be used to detect materials such as arsenic in recycled plastics, or to measure the presence of critical minerals in a mining sample, he said. It can also be used for medical purposes.

Hall says the low-power reactor is also designed with safety features, including shutting off on its own if it reaches a certain temperature.

While Polytechnique’s reactor is turning 50, Hall says it’s far from the oldest in Canada. In comparison, McMaster University’s reactor in Hamilton has been operating since 1959.

“We still have about 25 years left of fuel, so we could operate for the next 25 years,” Hall said.