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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
Donald J. Dudziak, R. A. Krakowski
Nuclear Technology | Volume 25 | Number 1 | January 1975 | Pages 32-55
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A24347
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Induced radioactivity and afterheat in fusion reactor blanket structures and magnetic coils are essential inputs for environmental impact studies. These quantities have been calculated for a reference theta-pinch reactor (RTPR) and compared with results reported for other fusion reactors and typical fast fission reactors. Major indepen-dent variables considered in the RTPR analysis were structural material (Nb—1% Zr, V—20% Ti), 14.1-MeV neutron wall loading (0.2 to 6.7 MW/m2), operating time (1 to 20 yr) and time after shutdown (0 to 30 000 yr). For a given operating time large radioactivity contributions from 95Nb render higher [Ci/W(th)J and {Ci/[W(th)yr]} values at higher wall loadings and <1 yr after shutdown. At long times after shutdown this dependence is reversed and represents an advantage relative to long-term radwaste storage. Activity from V— 20% Ti is insensitive to wall loading or operating time. For either material, afterheat power densities are about two orders of magnitude lower than for fission reactors.