Germany
Tests of the fire protection system at Biblis A located a wrong cable connection of a fire pump in Biblis B. There was also a small leak of radioactive water from a pipe weld on the pressure measuring system.
Several incidents were recorded at Neckarwestheim and Philippsburg during June and July. These were originally classified as zero on the INES scale, but have now been reclassified as level 1. The events were:
• Incorrect transport of a fuel element which was put on top of another one on 5 June.
• Incorrect rearrangement of a neutron source resulting in slight damage on 27 June.
• A construction mistake of the air ventilation system with wrongly installed rupture discs on 31 July.
Though there were no releases of radioactivity, the staff at both facilities acted contrary to specific guidelines. EnBW, the operator, has been instructed by the federal government to introduce a better plant safety management system.
Isar 2 was shut down for an annual inspection on 19 July, and was reconnected to the grid on 5 August. Forty-eight fuel elements were replaced during the outage, and the plant output was increased by 4MWe by improving the efficiency of the turbine.
Philippsburg 2 was shut down for its annual inspection on 22 July. It was restarted using the newly established safety check list which had been prepared following the irregularities in 2001, which had resulted in 10 weeks of enforced shut down.
