Philippsburg nuclear power station: Block 2 off grid for annual overhaul

Karlsruhe. Block 2 of Philippsburg nuclear power station (KKP 2) was taken off the grid last weekend, as planned, for its annual overhaul. Inspection and maintenance work will be carried out in the next few weeks, and 44 of the 193 fuel elements are also to be changed.

This year, the overhaul will the focus mainly on the routine work. The major projects include the full inspection of one of the four main coolant pumps, the eddy current testing of the heating tubes in two of the four steam generators, and the impermeability test of the reactor safety container. The work program comprises more than 5,000 individual jobs.

“We remain true to our motto of ‘Safety before Economy,’ and are again spending in excess of 10 million for the continued safe operation of the plant,” says Horst Janisch, Manager of the Block 2 system. In view of these investments, but also of the some 900 additional employees of manufacturing and specialist companies that will support the KKP team during the overhaul, Janisch adds, “The overhaul has a positive side-effect: after the football World Cup we will be the next to provide a boost to the economy – at least here in the region.”

The work of overhauling the plant will take place under the supervision of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, assisted under the orders of the Ministry by experts from the TÜV, the KeTAG (Nuclear technology Experts Association, Baden-Württemberg) and the MPA (State Material Test Establishment, Stuttgart).

Block 2 of the Philippsburg nuclear power station is a pressurised water reactor with an electrical output of 1458 megawatts. The plant went into operation in 1984, and produced almost eleven and a half billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2005.