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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.
Werner Oldekop, Hans-Dieter Berger, Wilfried Zeggel
Nuclear Technology | Volume 59 | Number 2 | November 1982 | Pages 212-227
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A33024
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The main feature of an advanced pressurized water reactor (APWR) with improved fuel utilization is a plutonium-enriched tight lattice core integrated in an unchanged primary system of a common pressurized water reactor (PWR) power station. Neutron physical investigations demonstrate that conversion ratios in excess of 0.9 and final burnups of ∼45 000 MWd/tHM are obtained with a reload enrichment of 7.5% fissile plutonium. The moderator-void coefficient is calculated to be negative. The high-pressure drop of an APWR core is compensated for by a slightly reduced coolant flow rate. Despite the fact that calculated safety parameters such as void coefficient, critical heat flux margin, and emergency core cooling behavior have to be proven by experiments, the homogeneous concept of a high-converting PWR appears to be feasible.