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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.
C. V. Chester, R. O. Chester
Nuclear Technology | Volume 9 | Number 6 | December 1970 | Pages 786-795
Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT70-A28710
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Turkey Point pressurized water reactor was analyzed as a Civil Defense problem in a nuclear attack. It is postulated that the reactor presents no additional hazard in a target area unless a large fraction of the fission product inventory in the core can be promptly released due to weapon effects. High explosive tests on scale models of the pressure vessel and pertinent shielding were employed to determine the required delivery accuracy of nuclear weapons to rupture the pressure vessel and release the core fission product inventory. We conclude that the presence of a power reactor in a target area will not add significantly to the number of casualties produced by a nuclear weapon unless the reactor receives essentially a direct hit. Further, preferentially targeting a PWR would be prohibitively expensive because, with existing missile accuracies, a large number of weapons would have to be targeted on the reactor to ensure getting a direct hit.