The Swiss nuclear installations annual report 1992

This report concerns the safety of the Swiss nuclear installations in the period of 1992. Surveillance of these installations with regard to nuclear safety, including radiation protection, is among the tasks of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (HSK). In Switzerland five nuclear power plants are operational: Beznau I and II, Muehleberg, Goesgen and Leibstadt. Research reactors of thermal capacities below 10 MWth are operational at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and at the University of Basle. Further subject to HSK's supervision are all activities at PSI involving nuclear fuel or ionizing radiation, the shut down experimental reactor of Lucens, the exploration in Switzerland of final disposal facilities for radwaste and the interim radwaste storage facilities. The present report first deals with the nuclear power plants and covers, in individual sections, the aspects of installation safety, radiation protection as well as personnel and organization, and the resulting overall impression from the point of view of HSK (chapters 1-4). In chapter 5, the corresponding information is given for the research installations. Chapter 6 on radwaste disposal is dedicated to the waste treatment, waste from reprocessing, interim storage and exploration by the NAGRA. In chapter 7, the status of emergency planning in the nuclear power plants' vicinity is reported. Certificates issued for the transport of radioactive materials are dealt with in chapter 8. Finally chapter 9 goes into some general questions relating to the safety of nuclear installations, and in particular covers important events in nuclear installations abroad. In all, the operation of the Swiss nuclear installations in the period of 1992 is rated safe by HSK. (author) 7 figs., 13 tabs