News and press releases

The Chinese Shidaowan nuclear power plant recently made the headlines in Germany: According to a paper published in the scientific journal Joule, tests are said to have proven that a core meltdown accident in the world's first commercially operated pebble bed reactor has been ruled out and that it is therefore ‘inherently safe’. This article describes how this type of reactor works, what follows from the experiment, and what safety challenges may nevertheless arise.

With the shutdown of the last German nuclear power plants, the decommissioning of these installations is now at the centre of attention. However, the impending shortage of skilled labour poses major challenges for the industry. Experts from GRS are therefore working with their partners in a research project that has just been launched to train specialists more efficiently in the future and to promote young talent in a more targeted manner: A hybrid learning platform with VR and AR elements and an innovative AI application are intended to optimise dismantling processes and prepare the industry for the future. In addition, a digital platform is being developed to make licensing processes more transparent and efficient.

The Supervisory Board of Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH has appointed Dr Florence-Nathalie Sentuc as the new Technical and Scientific Director of GRS with effect from 15 August 2024. She succeeds Uwe Stoll, who held this position at GRS for the past eight years.

In connection with the current global warming, periods of heat and drought are also occurring more frequently in Europe, which has an impact, among other things, on water availability and temperature. This, in turn, also has an impact on the operation of nuclear power plants: Nuclear reactors in Belgium, France and Switzerland have already had to reduce their output in the last summers. In Germany, too, reactors have been running at reduced capacity due to heat in recent years. But why is that so? How do heat and drought affect operation? And are these effects relevant from a safety point of view?

On 26 April 1986, the most serious nuclear accident since the beginning of the use of nuclear energy occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Due to a series of operating errors and the special features of the reactor type, the power output rose sharply (causing the coolant to suddenly vaporise), the reactor core was completely destroyed and the graphite it contained caught fire. Around eight tonnes of radioactive fuel were released into the environment. To this day, there is an exclusion zone within a radius of 30 kilometres. The following article explains what happened on site during last year and how GRS supported the work there.

Last week, the Élysée Palace confirmed that the French reprocessing plant at La Hague is to be expanded. Extensive investments are planned in this context. There have already been plans since 2020 to build another storage pool on the plant site. At La Hague, there is still radioactive waste from Germany, which may be returned this year.

In Germany, around 1.1 million people live in so-called radon-prone areas. In these regions, a high radon concentration can be expected in significantly more buildings than the national average. The new GRS "Radon Dose" app estimates the personal radiation dose at the places of residence and work, based on measured or estimated radon levels.

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, GRS has been working with Ukrainian partners to strengthen the security of nuclear facilities in the country. The projects are funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (AA). In our interview, Dr Stephan Theimer, who heads one of these projects, talks about the challenges that the war poses for day-to-day work, what the current situation means for the security of the facilities, and what he would like to see in future cooperation.

The Russian invasion is affecting the lives and safety of people in Ukraine on many levels. With the capture of the nuclear power plant sites at Chernobyl - which is now back under Ukrainian control - and Zaporizhia, nuclear facilities have also been included in the hostilities and have therefore increasingly become the focus of public attention. GRS has been in close professional contact with Ukrainian partner organisations for decades, whereby the security of the facilties, i.e. their physical protection, also plays a role. On behalf of the Federal Foreign Office, GRS is working with Ukrainian and national partners to implement specific measures that contribute to improving the security of the facilities there.

What happened last year in the field of nuclear energy? What developments can be observed internationally? The following overview shows the situation broken down by continent (Europe, America, Asia and Africa). Australia/Oceania is not included, as no nuclear power plants are operated there. After a brief summary, those countries are presented for each continent which either operate reactors or which are planning to start or are already building NPPs.