RWE delays restart of Biblis A and B

08 February 2007

[Platts Nucleonics Week, 8 February] RWE Power AG of Germany announced that repairs of defective support anchors at the Biblis A and  B nuclear power reactors would take longer than expected because of regulatory technicalities. The two reactors have been offline for a cumulative nine months so far due to the anchor repairs. The anchors were installed during a previous backfitting campaign to improve seismic safety. There is speculation that RWE could keep the units offline voluntarily over the next two years to prevent their lifetimes from expiring before Germany’s federal election in 2009. Two other reactors – Neckarwestheim 1 and Brunsbüttel – could also be kept offline in a similar tactic. German utilities hope that a new government would overturn the country’s nuclear phase-out plan.

Further information

RWE Power

WNA Nuclear Power in Germanyinformation paper