9 Jul (NucNet): Sweden’s Ringhals nuclear power plant has been placed under special supervision until further notice by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority in order to “improve safety culture” at the plant.
The authority said yesterday that during “normal supervision” of the plant between 2005 and 2009, it had found “several deficiencies” including areas involving management, the following of procedures, safety reviews, incident investigation and internal audits.
“This means that the Radiation Safety Authority will pay special attention to the operational decisions made at Ringhals and will perform inspections more frequently than normal,” the authority said.
Ringhals must now “account for every decision” concerning the start-up or stop of a unit, irrespective of whether it is planned or unplanned, the authority said.
The authority is the successor body to the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute and the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate. It has operated since July 2008 under Sweden’s environment ministry and has national collective responsibility in the areas of radiation protection and nuclear safety.
Ringhals managing director Bertil Dihné said yesterday: “Ringhals will vigorously implement the investigation measures and satisfy the conditions imposed… It’s now a matter of working in close collaboration with the authority to ensure that our actions produce results.”
Ringhals is a four-unit plant. Unit one is a boiling water reactor that entered commercial operation in 1976, while units two to four are pressurised water reactors that started commercial operation in 1975, 1981 and 1983 respectively.
