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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.
S. R. Bierman, B. M. Durst, E. D. Clayton, B. W. Howes
Nuclear Technology | Volume 49 | Number 1 | June 1980 | Pages 40-46
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Reactor Safety / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32504
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Criticality experiments with Fast Test Reactor (FTR) fuel pin lattices in water and reflected with concrete have provided benchmark-type data for lattice pitches of 9.53, 12.63, 15.41, and 19.06 mm (water-to-fuel volume ratios of 3.34, 6.92,10.99, and 17.55, respectively). At these center-to-center fuel pin spacings, 554, 260, 191, and 152 fuel pins were required for criticality in rectangular lattices 28, 18, 18, and 14 fuel pins wide, respectively. This corresponds to a decrease of ∼7% from that previously observed in similar lattices with full water reflection. However, the FTR fuel pin design essentially limited the concrete reflection to only the four sides of each fuel lattice.