Carolinas–Virginia Tube Reactor
| Carolinas-Virginia Tube Reactor | |
|---|---|
The Parr Nuclear Plant as it appeared when it was operational during the 1960s.(This is a mirror image of the plant's layout) | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Fairfield County, near Jenkinsville, South Carolina |
| Coordinates | 34°15′45″N 81°19′45″W / 34.26250°N 81.32917°W |
| Status | Decommissioned |
| Construction began | January 1, 1960 |
| Commission date | December 18, 1963 |
| Decommission date | January 10, 1967 |
| Operator | Carolinas Virginia Nuclear Power Associates |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | PHWR |
| Power generation | |
| Units decommissioned | 1 x 17 MWe |
| External links | |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
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Carolinas–Virginia Tube Reactor (CVTR), also known as Parr Nuclear Station, was an experimental pressurized tube heavy water nuclear power reactor at Parr, South Carolina in Fairfield County. It was built and operated by the Carolinas Virginia Nuclear Power Associates. CVTR was a small test reactor, capable of generating 17 megawatts of electricity. It was officially commissioned in December 1963 and left service in January 1967.
Reactors using heavy water as their moderator have a number of advantages due to their improved neutron economy. This allows them to run on fuels that do not work in conventional light water reactors. CVTR, for instance, used slight enrichment, between 1.5 and 2%, compared to 3 to 5% for conventional designs. This means fuel costs are lower, the tradeoff being higher capital costs due to the need to buy heavy water.
In conceptual terms, CVTR is very similar to the CANDU reactor design that was being pursued by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited around the same time. The two designs differ in some design details and that CANDU can run on natural uranium. CVTR is otherwise similar in most respects, and about the same size and power as the 22 MWe CANDU prototype which entered service in 1962.