Dr. Jeremy Whitlock - 2000 Apr: The CANDU technology can extend fuel use, destroy military plutonium, and reuse spent fuel from other reactors, while producing inexpensive electricity. Canada has developed a significant means for producing electricity with its CANDU reactor, a system that consumes uranium oxide fuel. This fuel does not require enrichment, a complex procedure with militaristic overtones. The CANDU technology includes: pressure tube geometry, simple fuel design, a once-through fuel cycle, and on-line refuelling. These characteristics match the CANDU system to the Canadian industrial and political environment. The CANDU reactor has a high moderator to fuel ratio, and several means to control the fission rate. This allows many different types of fuel to be fissioned: natural uranum, weapons grade plutonium, and even spent fuel from other reactors. Thorium, which is more abundant than uranium, can also be used to fuel a CANDU plant. Given its relatively simpler design, and its versatility, along with its proliferation resistant fuel cycles, the CANDU technology is an ideal choice for extending the use of fission world-wide.