Philippsburg nuclear power plant: Unit 2 offline for annual inspection

Karlsruhe. Unit 2 of Philippsburg nuclear power plant (KKP 2) was taken offline this Tuesday as part of its planned annual inspection in order to perform maintenance activities and several technical projects as well as to replace fuel rods.

“The safety of our plants remains our top priority and it will stay this way until KKP 2 and GKN II produce their last kilowatt-hour as well as during the shutdown and dismantling of our KKP 1 and GKN I units,” explains Jörg Michels, chief technical officer at Philippsburg nuclear power plant. “This philosophy continues to apply for this year’s inspection.”

Support for the inspection work provided by over 1,000 additional specialists.

The inspection programme comprises some 1,500 individual activities, some of which can only be performed when the plant is offline. “In addition to routine inspections, we are also performing inspection work on two of the four steam generators as well an internal check of the reactor pressure vessel. A major inspection of the generator is also planned,” reports Horst Janisch, head of unit 2. The inspection team at Philippsburg nuclear power plant will be supported by more than 1,000 additional employees from manufacturing and specialist companies. The inspection work is being monitored by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector in Baden-Württemberg and accompanied by inspectors from TÜV and KeTAG (Kerntechnik-Gutachterarbeitsgemeinschaft Baden-Württemberg).

Unit 2 of Philippsburg nuclear power plant is a pressurised water reactor with an electrical output of 1,468 megawatts. Commissioned in 1984, the facility produced more than 11 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2011.