Safety upgrade needed for 40-year-old Swiss nuclear power plant

AG: Leibstadt power plant more than 40 years old, improvements needed Keystone-SDA

The 40-year-old Leibstadt nuclear power plant in Switzerland will need improvements despite being awarded good marks by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI).

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According to a note issued today by the supervisory authority, the documentation submitted at the end of 2022 by the operator as part of the Periodic Safety Verification (VPS) proves that the plant on the Rhine border with Germany has maintained a good level of technical safety.

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It meets the legal requirements for nuclear safety and radiation protection.

As the Leibstadt reactor has been in operation since 1984, Kernkraftwerk Leibstadt AG (KKL) also had to provide the so-called Proof of Safety for Long-Term Operation for the first time (in accordance with Article 34a of the Nuclear Energy Ordinance).

Progressive ageing

In its statement, ENSI assessed the adjustments already made and planned for long-term operation as “on the whole adequate and reasonable”. At the same time, ENSI makes a number of demands aimed at further increasing the safety level of the plant.

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These include, for example, the systematic verification of the design of safety-relevant components, the improvement of deterministic and probabilistic accident tests, and the optimisation of fire and emergency protection.

In order to ensure a high level of safety also in the future despite the gradual ageing of the plant, the operator has developed a comprehensive modernisation concept. This has already begun as part of the ongoing surveillance procedure.

The so-called ‘retrofit concept’ was judged to be adequate and ENSI is of the opinion that it should be implemented in good time.

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For large components (pressurised reactor vessel with internal elements, recirculation circuits, nuclear steam generation system, steel containment and concrete structure) that are difficult or impossible to replace, the operator provides the necessary safety tests, ENSI writes.

The condition of these components is judged to be good. In the opinion of the supervisory authority, the requirements for long-term safe operation are therefore met.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/mga

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