I currently live in Ontario, Canada where we employ 16 nuclear reactors to produce just over half of our electrical needs. It's something I never really think about, until now. With the crisis in Japan it has become a nagging question, are our reactors safer than those in Japan? It turns out here in Ontario, we use one of the most expensive designs in the world, which just happens to be a Canadian design, called a CANDU reactor. Meanwhile in Japan, the reactor in question was one of the designs from the 60's called boiling water reactor. Here is a great link that directly compares them: http://www.enviralment.ca/2011/03/23/nuclear-power-facts-the-differences-between-ontario-and-japan/
My question to those who know more than I is, are CANDU reactors really that much safer? From what I read it seems they are so, but I am not a physicist. Also, what in your professional opinion is the safest nuclear design currently in place?
