3 Dec (NucNet): Swiss utility Axpo has submitted a roadmap to the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) detailing plans for further investigations of flaw indications in the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of Unit 1 at the Beznau nuclear station, ENSI said. Axpo said in a separate statement it does not expect the 365-megawatt pressurised water reactor unit to restart before August 2016. During a scheduled outage that began in May 2015, inspections of the Beznau-1 RPV registered findings at some points in the base material of the RPV indicating “minimal irregularities in the fabrication process”, Axpo said. The company carried out further measurements and analyses and submitted a report to ENSI. In July, Axpo announced that the restart of Beznau-1 had been postponed while the flaw indications were investigated further. In August ENSI called for additional investigations. ENSI said it will review the roadmap with the help of an international expert group. There are no flaw indications in the Beznau-2 reactor and Axpo said it expects this unit to return to commercial operation by the end of December 2015.
