ILK statement on basic safety requirements of nuclear power plants

Updating the German nuclear codes and regulations has been under discussion for years. The idea was taken up initially within the KTA 2000 project. After completion of that project, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in July 2003 launched the project of 'Updating Nuclear Codes and Regulations'. ILK supports updating nuclear codes and regulations because they are no longer up to the current state of the art in many areas. Although the deficits in those regulations have not given rise to any deficiencies in the technical safety of equipment or operation of German nuclear power plants, ILK regards it as useful, in support of an unambiguous application of the Atomic Energy Act, to draft a set of rules covering in particular: - all areas to be regulated, - the requirements to be made on the basis of international consensus. The ILK published 2 statements about updating nuclear codes and regulations. They refer to requirements to be met in up-to-date codes in Germany. The draft of a set of nuclear rules and regulations published by BMU is not conducive to fostering application of the Atomic Energy Act. The ILK therefore recommends not to put these into effect but rather produce a new draft based on a common understanding of the federal government and the federal states. All initiatives serving this purpose are to be supported. (orig.)