Swiss nuclear power plant restarts as Aare River cools down

Beznau nuclear power plant, near Döttingen, canton Aargau in northern Switzerland. Keystone-SDA

The Beznau nuclear power station in canton Aargau has been generating electricity again since Tuesday, as the Aare River has cooled down. Both reactors were disconnected last week as the river water temperature had risen above 25 degrees Celsius.

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The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) gave the go-ahead for the plant to be restarted after consulting the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, according to the Axpo electricity group, which operates the facility.

On June 29, the company halved the output of its two reactors in Beznau because of the high temperature of the river that feeds the plant.

On July 2, block 1 was disconnected followed by block 2 a day later, in compliance with Swiss regulations designed to protect the fauna and flora of the Aare River when the temperature of the water exceeds 25C for three days in a row.

Unlike the Gösgen and Leibstadt power plants, Beznau has no cooling tower.

At Beznau, near Döttingen, river water fulfils this role. Some of the water drawn from the Aare to cool the reactors returns to the river slightly warmer than when it enters the nuclear facility.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

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