Isar 2 would need to be repaired for a longer run time

For a long time it was said that the Isar 2 nuclear reactor was always ready to produce electricity even after the end of the year. Now it is known that there are conditions for it.

For a period beyond the end of the year, the Isar 2 nuclear power plant in Bavaria would have to shut down for about a week to repair a leak. “The energy company Preussen-Elektra informed the Federal Environment Ministry about a leak in an internal valve at the Isar 2 nuclear power plant during technical talks on preparations for a reserve stock last week,” a ministry spokesman said. Federal Environment. (BMUV) on Monday in Berlin.

There is no deterioration in security, he said. However, the furnace must be repaired to be available to run on power beyond the end of the year. The ministry announced that, based on the new situation, it now wants to examine whether Isar 2 can continue to be used as an emergency reserve for German energy production until mid-April, as planned by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck.

According to the operator, the repair is not necessary if the nuclear power plant is to end its electrical operation after December 31, 2022, as happened with the nuclear phase-out decided in 2011, the ministry said. The Bavarian nuclear supervisory authority has already been informed of the leak by the operator.

According to Preussen-Elektra, the shutdown must take place in October because the fuel elements of the reactor core would have had too little reactivity in November to restart the plant from the shutdown, the BMUV announced. Until now, the operator has always stated that the system will operate at almost full capacity until the end of the year, the ministry said. The TÜV-Süd and various politicians from the CDU, CSU and FDP had repeatedly claimed that Isar 2 was safe and that it could and therefore should be allowed to produce electricity beyond the end of the year.