Information Exchange

Graphic of the world with Member plants inset
 
Information Exchange leverages experience and best practices across the industry and among CANDU utilities so that each member and supplier participant can make the most of shared operating experience and best practices. It also connects COG members for sharing of timely information, knowledge management and collaboration for operational, maintenance and refurbishment innovation.

​​Programs and Products

​COGonline

 

COGonline.org is a one-stop collaboration tool and information access portal with more than 45,000 OPEX data entries, a calendar of events, and a workspace for peer teams, forums and committees. COGonline, along with this site, feature COGnizant, COG’s semi-annual e-magazine covering the latest in CANDU industry trends.


​OPEX Screening Meetings​​​

The weekly OPEX Screening Meeting teleconference, chaired by COG, facilitates a CANDU screening committee that reviews events of significance from CANDU stations and other industry sources (WANO, INPO, IAEA, NRC). The committee determines applicability and significance to CANDU units, identifies generic issues, recommends action or information dissemination at operating stations and determines which events need to be reported to the nuclear industry via COG and WANO.​


​OPEX Database

With more than 30 years of operating experience in its records, there is a solution waiting to be found in the COG OPEX database. Weekly screening teleconferences keep participants up-to-date on the latest issues and resolutions.

CANDU Event Notification
Forums​

COG hosts more than 150 forums, peer groups, technical committee meetings, conferences and workshops, annually. Check the COGonline calendar or the downloadable At a Glance PDF on COGonline under EVENTS to get involved.


Newsgroups

COG maintains more than 50 topical newsgroups. Subscribers can get the latest information on specific topic areas for selected CANDU and industry activities.

Hot Trends & Impact Videos​

Each hot trend report has a packet of pertinent information including a topical discussion of contributors which have led to the "trend" of events. Impact videos show the trends in motion.


Question &

Answer Forums

The Q&A Forum online newsgroup provides an interactive space for COG members to post their questions and draw on the expertise of colleagues worldwide. It isn’t just for problems. Thinking of implementing something new? See what has been done elsewhere.

​Industry Good Practices & Innovations

A good practice or innovation is a technique, program or idea that has been implemented at a CANDU plant and proven to have a positive impact on safety, reliability and economics of nuclear operations. COG began promoting the sharing of good practices amongst its members in 2000 and has expanded the initiative to include innovative ideas. This product has become an effective tool to reduce cost, enhance safety and increase efficiency.​



​Just-in-Time
(JIT) Briefings & Handbooks

JIT briefings, RapidOPEX and work group handbooks contain operating experience directly applicable during field activities. Each package concisely describes a significant problem, related industry experience, causes and lessons learned. Find the JIT packages on COGonline.org.

Newsletters & Station Technical Reports​

Station reports previously called Chemistry Newsletters are produced annually and include D2O Management, Radiation Dose and Radioactive Emissions (Environmental) for each CANDU station. An executive summary is included to obtain an overview of the information provided.​​


Station
Performance History​

A quarterly newsletter provides station performance data, summarized events of operational significance affecting productivity and equipment problems at each station. Data is collected and used for benchmarking, historical records and comparing CANDU station performance with nuclear reactors around the world. COG maintains CANDU performance information and a database of station capacity factors and plant outages.​​


Bulletins & Advisories​​​

From time to time events and problems occur at nuclear stations that warrant technical assessment of their generic application to CANDU units and/or represent significant CANDU historical operating experience. these items have been captured as COG bulletins to serve as a permanent reminder of problems that have occurred, in order to help stations prevent similar incidents.


​CANTEACH

​CANTEACH is a project to preserve technical knowledge of CANDU nuclear generating systems. The dedicated website (http://canteach.candu.org) provides a permanent record of CANDU technology information, a source of education and training material and serves as a library for shared documentation contributed by industry participants.​​


​Teams & Workshops

​COG provides "smart" facilitation to a variety of teams and workshops that allow member staff at appropriate levels to exchange operating experience and ​​address common issues. Teams include: engineering managers, outage managers, human performance, radiation protection, radioactive waste, reactivity management, training managers, valve users, fire protection and corrective actions. Meetings and proceedings​ are posted to COG online




Are you an employee of a COG-member organization?

For all your event information, OPEX, news groups, team workspaces and industry data, visit www.COGonline.org


 

Learning & Development

​COG’s Learning & Development is part of COG’s Information Exchange program. It provides members and supplier participants opportunities to further their leadership and professional development within a nuclear environment. It also offers leaders programs to grow their expertise in managing specific function areas. 

COG delivers the Nuclear Professional Development Seminar, a three-week leadership program that takes place in the classroom and in the plant, providing an opportunity to examine leadership, management practices and performance.


Knowledge transfer: From one generation to the next

In 2017, the University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE) and CANDU Owners Group, with the help of sponsors, published The Essential CANDU, which provides a full and detailed briefing on the CANDU system.

A limited number of print copies have been distributed to members and it is available in a free online format at: http://www.unene.ca/education/candu-textbook

​By the numbers

​44,000+​
​8​00
​150+

​COG’s OPEX database of about 44,000 entries provides members searchable information to help solve problems today based on past experience from the entire CANDU fleet.


​COG holds weekly OPEX screening meetings where members agree on significance and discuss follow-up actions. Approximately 800 events are reviewed annually.


​COG hosts more than 150 forum meetings, peer groups, technical committee meetings and workshops each year for members and supplier participants. Members can view all events in COG's event guide and online calendar on the COG member website.