Gli stress test nucleari in Europa / Nuclear stress tests in Europe

Thomas, Stephen (2011) Gli stress test nucleari in Europa / Nuclear stress tests in Europe. AGI Energia [Website].

Abstract

Author's Summary (in English): The proposal in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima disaster that European Union member states carry out ‘stress tests’ on their nuclear power plants seemed motivated by political opportunism. Nevertheless, useful results could emerge particularly if the process of peer review by other member states’ nuclear safety regulatory bodies of the national results is carried out rigorously and if the exercise is seen as a first step to be followed up as more information emerges from the investigations at Fukushima. However, regulatory bodies will be reluctant to require significant modifications or closure of existing reactors because this will be seen as an admission of past failure. For the public, the damaging conclusion from Fukushima is that, as with previous major nuclear accidents, it involved a sequence of events designers did not believe was credible.

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