ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Luis Rebollo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 103 | Number 1 | July 1993 | Pages 122-130
Technical Note | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34835
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A best-estimate methodology for analysis of an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is applied to the simulation of the passive response to postulated ATWS scenarios of the José Cabrera (Zorita) nuclear power plant (NPP) owned and operated by Union Fenosa, which is the only Westinghouse PWR with a single coolant loop. A justification of the calculation hypotheses is included. The results of the specific studies are evaluated, and the conclusion is that the intrinsic safety margins of the original design of the plant guarantees the integrity of the fuel, primary circuit, and containment, without the need to incorporate an automatic ATWS mitigation system. Finally, a suitable plant-specific prototype emergency operating procedure is designed that is substantially different from the previous Zorita NPP procedure and from the generic procedure applicable to multiloop plants. This procedure is validated by simulating the operator-plant interface by means of a validation matrix including the scenarios presenting the most adverse dynamic modes foreseeable.