JRC high flux reactor restarted
The Joint Research Centre's (JRC) high flux reactor (HFR) in Petten, the Netherlands, has been restarted with the full agreement of the Dutch safety authority following temporary closure in February to allow for independent assessments to be carried out. The assessments were carried out by the International atomic energy agency (IAEA) and Serco Assurance, and focused on the reactor's safety culture and weld anomalies of the reactor vessel. 'Serco is satisfied on technical grounds that the HFR may be restarted for a period of operation until the summer of 2003,' states the report by Serco. A shutdown in the summer of 2003 was already foreseen before the closure earlier this year, a spokesperson for the JRC told CORDIS News. He added that Serco Assurance 'could, in principal, not see any reason why the reactor could not be operated until 2015.' This opinion is however subject to the JRC carrying out the in-service inspection in the summer of 2003 and introducing a lifetime management programme. The report by the IAEA highlighted several areas where actions should be taken to improve safety management. The JRC has already introduced new training schemes in safety culture as well as management and leadership training. The JRC will also be tightening monitoring and review procedures, particularly by strengthening the role of the existing internal reactor safety committee (an independent body advising the management of the HFR on safety related issues), setting up a reactor safety committee composed of external specialists in reactor safety, improving communication routes and carrying out more frequent reviews and internal audits, said a JRC spokesperson. Serco Assurance stated that there is no evidence that the weld defects, which raised concern in some quarters, have grown since the last inspection.
Kraje
Netherlands