Axpo submitted today a project plan (road map) to ENSI, the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, outlining procedures for the characterisation and evaluation of the indications in the base material of the Beznau 1 reactor pressure vessel. ENSI will review this plan in collaboration with a group of international experts.

The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) requires the Beznau nuclear power plant to provide proof that the reactor pressure vessel is safe. In an interview, Georg Schwarz, the Director of the Division for Nuclear Power Plants and Deputy Director of ENSI, explains the importance of carrying out ultrasonic inspections.

Block 2 of the Beznau nuclear power plant does not have to be shut down early. The operator Axpo was able to plausibly demonstrate to the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate ENSI that even if one were to assume that the reactor pressure vessel of Beznau 2 had similar material defects to those in Beznau…

While carrying out ultrasonic measurements of the reactor pressure vessel of the Beznau 1 nuclear power plant the operator detected flaw indications that require evaluation. It submitted a corresponding report to the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate ENSI yesterday. Beznau 1 is presently inactive because of the main annual overhaul. ENSI is now awaiting an…