New elements in Baden-Wuerttemberg's nuclear power oversight

In the wake of the notifiable events at unit 2 of the Philippsburg Nuclear Power Station in the autumn of 2001 (insufficient boration and filling levels in the flooding tanks of the emergency core cooling and residual heat removal system), criticism had been levelled also against the Baden-Wuerttemberg regulatory authority with the state Ministry for the Environment and Transport. As a consequence, the authority was subjected to a number of external audits, some of them initiated in-house, others launched externally. The outcome of these audits, and optimization and development processes in nuclear oversight in Baden-Wuerttemberg, both as a consequence of the investigations and of in-house initiatives, are outlined. The measures initiated also serve to meet current challenges a regulatory authority is facing as a result of deregulation of the electricity market and opt-out of the use of nuclear power. (orig.)