4 Jun (NucNet): Kernkraft Gösgen-Däniken AG, the owner and operator of the single-unit Gösgen nuclear power station in Switzerland, has signed a contract with Areva GmbH, the German subsidiary of French group Areva SA, to carry out two modernisation projects at the facility.
For the first project, Areva will expand the used fuel assembly wet storage facility, which was originally built by the Areva group. The company will also modernise the electrical and instrumentation and control (I&C) systems of the emergency diesel generators.
The wet storage facility project will double the capacity of the existing interim wet storage facility to hold more than 1,000 fuel assemblies and provide Gösgen with “greater flexibility for used-fuel management”, Areva said. The pool will rely on passive cooling technology developed by Areva.
The modernisation of the electrical and I&C systems of the plant’s four emergency diesel generators will also include the installation of the digital Teleperm XS I&C technology developed by Areva. This technology has already been retrofitted to the turbine I&C at Gösgen.
Gösgen is a 985-megawatt pressurised water reactor unit that began commercial operation in November 1979.
Areva said he Gösgen nuclear power plant meets approximately 13 percent of Swiss electric power needs.
