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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.
Aamir Husain, Calvin E. Breckenridge, David Storey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 109 | Number 2 | February 1995 | Pages 265-274
Technical Paper | Reactor Operation | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35059
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An in situ pipe gamma spectrometry technique was applied to determine the activity within piping during various stages of CANDU reactor decontaminations. Measurements were performed in general radiation fields up to ∼500 mR/h and required both the detector and the pipe being scanned to be appropriately shielded from other neighboring piping. Measured counts were interpreted using a pipe source efficiency calibration with due regard to its distance dependence. Cobalt-60 was the dominant radionuclide on the piping before the decontamination. Deposition of I24Sb occurred on out-core piping surfaces during the decontamination. The spectrometry measurements were supplemented with contact radiation field measurements, which were performed using survey detectors housed within specially designed pipe shields. Radiation fields estimated from measured radionuclide activities were compared with the measured radiation fields. On average, the ratio of measured to estimated fields was ∼72%. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.