Swiss federal authorities

Background articles

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  • IAEA Building in Vienna
    Background articles, Posts

    Ten Years on from Fukushima (5/6): Switzerland’s International Position

    After the accident at Fukushima, there was an increasing demand for international safety standards and their international monitoring. Switzerland, and in particular ENSI, was committed to mandatory backfitting on a global basis. Even if such safety principles are still not legally binding, the reactor accident acted as a booster for a new safety awareness amongst…

  • Background articles, News, Posts

    Ten Years on from Fukushima (4/6): The Consequences for Swiss Nuclear Power Plants and the Oversight Activities

    After the events in Fukushima Daiichi, ENSI ordered immediate actions and additional safety tests for the Swiss nuclear power plants. Moreover, from the accident analysis and the EU stress test, ENSI derived a need for action to improve nuclear safety in Switzerland: the “Fukushima Action Plan”.

  • Background articles, News, Posts

    New study on extreme flooding of the River Aare is also relevant for nuclear power plant sites

    Today, the Federal Office of the Environment, FOEN, published its study “Extreme Flooding of the River Aare”. Their findings also include a re-evaluation of the flood risk to nuclear installations located on the Aare. ENSI will now require those nuclear installations concerned to update their safety cases.

  • Background articles, Interviews, News, Posts

    Ten Years on from Fukushima (3/6): the EU Stress Test

    The tests at the time confirmed that, in international comparison, Swiss nuclear power plants have a high safety level. Despite these learnings, it is important to remain attentive at all times, to keep the proofs of safety up to date, to live a strong safety culture and to systematically analyse events.

  • Background articles, Interviews

    What Oskar Grözinger learned from his international reviews

    Oskar Grözinger has spent most of his working life in nuclear regulation. During the EU stress test, the physicist was deputy chairman of the “Topic 1 – External Influences” division.

  • Background articles, Interviews

    How Nils Cordua companioned the EU stress test at ENSI

    Nils Cordua was the project leader at ENSI during the EU stress test in Switzerland. He has been working at ENSI since 2010 and is now a specialist in systems engineering.

  • Background articles, Interviews

    How Jukka Laaksonen initiated the EU stress tests

    Jukka Laaksonen was Chairman of the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) and Director General of the finnish nuclear safety authority Säteilyturvakeskuksen (STUK) when the events in Fukushima took place. He has held nuclear safety expert positions within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European…

  • Background articles, Posts

    Ten Years on from Fukushima (2/6): The radiological effects of the accident

    After the nuclear accident in Fukushima Daiichi, extrapolations revealed that about one-eighth of the amount of radioactivity that escaped at Chernobyl was released into the surrounding area. The maximum estimated radiation dose for the population was 7.5 millisievert. However, various studies revealed that mental problems in the aftermath of the accident had a greater impact…

  • Background articles, Posts

    Ten Years on from Fukushima (1/6): The lead-up to the 2011 Disaster

    After Chernobyl, the Fukushima accident of 11 March 2011 is history’s most serious reactor accident. An expert team from ENSI carried out an in-depth analysis of the circumstances leading up to the disaster. As a result, ENSI was able to derive important conclusions both for its own regulatory role and for the safety of Swiss…