Turnkey nuclear solutions TÜV NORD is an expert organisation in all questions of nuclear engineering. The work extends from assessments of nuclear safety and the analysis of incidents through to safety management in nuclear power plants.
On 11 March 2011, Japan was shaken by a major earthquake and offshore tremor. The tsunami that followed triggered a series of events in the Fukushima nuclear power plant, located on the coast of Japan, which made the highest category on the international nuclear incident scale. The power plant had simply not been designed to withstand the strength of the earthquake and the resulting tsunami.
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analysing their possible transferability to German nuclear power plants,” says Rainer Bergmann, Project Manager at TÜV NORD.
Politicians asked questions This incident again intensified the debate surrounding nuclear plant safety and placed it in the public and political spotlight. The consequences are well-known: the German Government decided to withdraw from the use of nuclear energy. And beyond that: “The Federal State and the Länder (German federal states) commissioned the Reaktorsicherheitskommission (reactor safety committee) and expert organisations with the task of evaluating the events in Fukushima and
Multi-disciplinary assessments “As a neutral expert organisation and subcontractor of regional nuclear licensing and supervisory authorities, TÜV NORD is concerned with all safety-related questions associated with nuclear technology and radiation protection”, explains Günter Liebing, head of the Project Department at TÜV NORD. The principal focus of assessment and inspection within the framework of nuclear licensing and supervisory activities has to be on the safety of nuclear installations. The engineers at the two TÜV NORD companies concerned with nuclear technology are accordingly trained to assess the planning, erection, commissioning and operation, decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations from the perspective of safety.
Inspection of nuclear plants is strict and continuous.
German reactors fulfil high safety standards.