A four-member delegation from the Polish National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) is currently in Brugg for talks with the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI). Their interest during the three-day visit is related to ENSI’s integrated management system and the regulatory safety culture.
Georg Schwarz, ENSI Deputy Director and head of the NPPs Division, explains the background and context in the following interview.
An inspection of fuel elements in Leibstadt NPP revealed that critical boiling states – so-called dryouts – had systematically occurred over several cycles.
Heat is generated in the reactor as a result of nuclear fission. To guarantee optimum cooling of the fuel rods, their cladding tubes must always be covered with a film of water. If they are not completely covered with water in specific areas, this is referred to as “dryout”.
The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) requires that the Beznau and Gösgen nuclear power plants check the quality and design of the forgings of the steam generators in respect of adherence to the material specifications.
Felix Altorfer, Director of the Staff of the Directorate, will be switching to the Waste Management Division and taking over as its Director at the beginning of 2017. This decision was made by the ENSI Board in today’s meeting.
On Monday, Axpo submitted the documents for characterisation and assessment of the findings in the base material of the Beznau 1 reactor pressure vessel. The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) will review these and decide whether Beznau 1 nuclear power plant will receive permission to restart.
The safety assessments of European nuclear power plants will continue even after the completion of the EU stress tests. Next year, Switzerland and the EU countries will compile reports on the ageing management of their nuclear power plants.
On the occasion of the 27th annual meeting of the CFS, the French-Swiss commission for nuclear safety and radiological protection, Switzerland and France exchanged ideas on various topics in the field of nuclear safety. Here, France expressed interest in the research programme of ENSI.
