nuclear-news

Nuclear critics threaten legal action over Beznau plant, SWI 20 Aug 15  A group of Swiss residents and environmental organisations are threatening to file a legal complaint against the federal nuclear inspectorate, urging it to close the aging Beznau nuclear power station. They say the plant cannot resist a powerful earthquake.On Thursday a dozen residents, Greenpeace, the Tri-national Association of Nuclear Protection (ATPN) and the Swiss Energy Foundation (SES) said they had uncovered this serious safety flaw at the two Beznau plants (commissioned in 1969 and 1972).

After the disaster at Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011, the government demanded Axpo, the Beznau plant operator, and other nuclear companies to step up their safety margins to make sure they were adequately flood and earthquake-proof. ………

Four of the country’s five reactors are temporarily offline for different reasons. Since August 14 block 2 at the nuclear power plant Beznau in canton Aargau has been offline. It will be out of service for four months while maintenance is carried out. Among the planned tasks is the replacement of the reactor pressure vessel cover. Block 1 at the plant has been out of service since March due to irregularities in the pressure vessel. Weak spots were found in the 15cm steel covering of the vessel.

Nuclear power plants in Leibstadt and Mühleberg are also currently not producing any energy due to annual maintenance service.

After the Fukushima disaster, the Swiss government decided to decommission all five of Switzerland’s nuclear power plants, starting in 2019 and ending by 2034. However, no exact dates were given for the individual reactors to be shut down. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/nuclear-power_nuclear-critics-threaten-legal-action-over-beznau-plant/41614406