MEETING THE CHALLENGES TO NUCLEAR SAFETY OF PHASING OUT THE COMMERCIAL USE OF NUCLEAR POWER IN GERMANY

摘要

Meeting the challenges to nuclear safety of phasing out the commercial use of nuclear power in germany. The decision of the German Government to phase out nuclear power is based on the nuclear and radiation risks that inevitably are associated with the operation of nuclear power plants. These risks are socially not accepted. The nuclear sector in Germany has therefore been affected since more than a decade by the erosion of the staffing, technical and knowledge bases. The consensus based phase out policy is an efficient approach to cope with these and other internationally discussed external factors challenging nuclear safety. The further use of nuclear power is limited and can be adapted to the availability of needed infrastructure. During phasing out, safety has to be maintained and improved in accordance with the law. To this end. the German nuclear regulatory body has taken the following actions that are also described in the paper: (ⅰ) regulatory approaches to power operators' organizational changes and staff development; (ⅱ) establishment of a safety culture, safety management systems and performance indicators; (ⅲ) modernization of the safety related regulations to the current slate of the art in science and technology; (ⅳ) maintenance of strong nuclear regulatory supervision and effective periodic safety reviews; (ⅴ) measures to preserve competence and infrastructure for the plants' residual operating lives and for overcoming the consequences of the use of nuclear power.