Department of Energy to be used in the production of nuclear weapons. Despite the declaration of peaceful use, from 1955 to 1985, Chalk River facilities supplied about 254.2 kilograms (560 lb) of plutonium, in the form of spent reactor fuel, to the U.S. At one point in time, the Chalk River Laboratories produced about one-third of the world's medical isotopes, and about half of the North American supply. Since the 1950s, various nuclear research reactors have been operated by AECL for production of nuclear material for medical and scientific applications. AECL also took over operation of Chalk River from the NRC. In 1952, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) was created by the government to promote peaceful use of nuclear energy. In 1946, NRC closed the Montreal laboratory and focused its resources on Chalk River. By 1944, the Chalk River Laboratories (known as “ Petawawa Works” of Defence Industries Limited during the early stages) were opened and, in September 1945, the facility saw the first nuclear reactor outside of the United States, ZEEP, become operational (see Lew Kowarski). The facility arose out of a 1942 collaboration between British and Canadian nuclear researchers which saw the Montreal Laboratory established under the National Research Council (NRC). NRX and Zeep buildings, Chalk River Laboratories, 1945 ![]() It is owned by the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories subsidiary of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and operated under contract by the Canadian National Energy Alliance, a private-sector consortium led by SNC-Lavalin. Until the shutdown of its nuclear reactor in 2018, CRL produced a large share of the world's supply of medical radioisotopes. ![]() ![]() Sir John Cockcroft was an early director of CRL and also a Nobel laureate. For example, Bertram Brockhouse, a professor at McMaster University, received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in neutron spectroscopy while at CRL from 1950 to 1962. CRL has expertise in physics, metallurgy, chemistry, biology, and engineering, and hosts unique research facilities. Chalk River Laboratories ( French: Laboratoires de Chalk River also known as CRL, Chalk River Labs and formerly Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, CRNL) is a Canadian nuclear research facility in Deep River, about 180 km (110 mi) north-west of Ottawa.ĬRL is a site of major research and development to support and advance nuclear technology, particularly CANDU reactor technology.
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