nbsp   Why did Canada develop its own, quite different, reactor design?
[A. CANDU Technology] [B. The Industry] [C. Cost/Benefit] [D. Safety/Liability] [E. Waste] [F. Security/Non-Proliferation] [G. Uranium] [H. Research Reactors] [I. Other R&D] [J. Further Info] 1939’s discovery of nuclear fission, whereby an atomic nucleus can be split in half and release millions of times more energy than any chemical reaction, touched off a firestorm of research activity around the world. Ideas (and patents) abounded: since the discovery of the neutron in 1932 this subatomic particle with zero electric charge had been used extensively as a convenient probe of matter, but now it promised to unleash an energy source like no other on earth. Thoughts turned to boundless energy supply, and, first and foremost (since Hitler had just started his war), a bomb of unimaginable power. A “catalyst” (in nuclear terms, a “moderator”) is required for ordinary uranium to sustain a fission chain reaction: Some researchers, like George Laurence at Canada’s National Research Council in O
