(L-R) Dr. Paul Chan (Professor CCE Dept), OCdt Zachary Switzer, OCdt Michael Baskin, OCdt Aaron Brideau, OCdt Kathryn Bowen, Kommy Farahani (Lecturer CCE Dept), Dr. Harry Kowal (Principal RMCC)
RMCC hosted the 12th International Conference on CANDU Fuel, which was recently held in Kingston on 2013 September 15 – 18. Dr. Paul Chan, a professor in the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (CCE) Department, chaired the Conference. The Conference was world class and was a resounding success. The excellent organization, quality papers presented by RMCC post-graduate students and the manner in which the various events of the conference were conducted were exemplary and showcased RMCC.
This Conference was presented by the Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS), in co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Atomic Energy of Canada. The Conference was sponsored by many organizations within the Canadian nuclear industries: AMEC-Nuclear Safety Solutions, Cameco Fuel Manufacturing Inc., Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, CANDESCO, CANTECH Associates Inc., CANDU Energy, General Electric-Hitachi, Ontario Power Generation, Power Workers’ Union, STERN Laboratories and UniTech Services Group.
This 12th International Conference on CANDU Fuel brought together international experts of the nuclear fuel industry and academia involved in design, R&D, manufacturing, operation, modeling, safety analysis and regulation. Delegates from eight countries, including India, Romania, Argentina, Korea, United States, Sweden, Austria and, of course, Canada attended the Conference. This conference is in fact one of most international conferences within CNS.
The RMCC Band and Highland Dancers opened the Conference on Sunday (15 September) at the Holiday-Inn Waterfront Hotel. The Master of Ceremony for that night was 25815 A/SLt Jae Song, who is pursuing a MASc degree in CCE Department in nuclear engineering. With great pleasure and honour, Mr. Mark Gerretsen (the Mayor of Kingston), Mr. John Gerretsen (Hon. MPP), Dr. Ted Hsu (Hon. MP), 14458 Dr. Harry Kowal (RMCC Principal), Dr. Ben Rouben (CNS Executive Director and Past President) and Dr. Paul Chan (Conference Chair) provided welcoming speeches. Members/cadets of the RMCC Band and Dancers were invited to stay and mingle with guests and enjoy food with an open bar. All attendees felt extremely welcomed and were very impressed with the City of Kingston and of course our community (the Kingstonians).
The conference banquet was held on Tuesday evening (17 September) on board of the Island Star, a 1000 Islands Cruise Boat. The Principal, Dr. Phil Bates (the Dean of Engineering), Dr. Gord Simons (the Dean of Science) and their spouses came, enjoyed the evening and helped welcome our Canadian and international delegates of researchers and experts on behalf of RMCC. An extended invitation was sent to OCdts 25958 Aaron Brideau, 25965 Kathryn Bowen, 25945 Michael Baskin and 26187 Zachary Switzer, as they are pursuing 4th year projects in the Nuclear field. OCdt Brideau was the Master of Ceremonies for the cruise. It was a great experience for these cadets to interact with the conference participants.
The quality and the success of the conference reflected positive on RMCC and was testament to the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the organizing committee, our professors, post-graduate students and cadets of the CCE Department.
