Operating experience 1993 in Swedish nuclear power plants

For many years, the Swedish nuclear power plants had a very good track record, compared with the international average. This trend was broken in 1993. During the year, six power plants were shut down for extended periods of time, for different safety-related reasons. During the autumn, a reactor containment leak was detected during scheduled containment leak rate testing at Barsebaeck 2. The unit was shut down for extensive investigation and corrective action for the rest of the year. Ringhals 2 was shut down last six months of the year as crack indications were found in a weld next to a control rod penetration in the reactor vessel head. Extensive tests and analyses revealed that the crack originated from the manufacturing of the vessel head and was of minor importance to safety. Oskarshamn 1 was shut down the whole year. Cracks in cold bent pipes in the residual heat removal system and cracks in the feedwater riser pipes lead to extensive replacement of piping, including pipes inside the reactor vessel. Decontamination of the reactor vessel was successful and attracted world wide interest. A programme for plant status verification was started in order to establish long-term operating conditions. Replacement of the pipe insulation and the inlet strainers in the core and containment spray systems solved the problems with clogging at certain failures in Barsebaeck, Ringhals 1 and Oskarshamn 1 and 2. Six of the reactors had an extremely high availability, of about 90 per cent and more. By year end, eleven of the twelve reactors were in full power operation