In response to the BNFL debacle, Siemens’ power generation arm, KWU, is conducting an audit at fuel company Cogema. Cogema manufactures MOX fuel assemblies for Siemens under contracts to plant operators.
In the case of 32 MOX fuel assemblies for Isar 2 delivered in December 1999, Cogema found and reported that in a production batch comprising around 7000 pellets, an error during the second random pellet check was established for 40 pellets. As a result of a software error in the analysis and transfer programme, which the company says has now been rectified, data sets were acquired for 60 instead of the scheduled 100 pellets.
The supervisory authority said that the error did not have any safety relevance. Siemens has asked Cogema to check all previous fabrication lots.
Cogema has contracted an independent expert, Bureau Veritas, to audit its quality assurance system and review the quality documentation on the most recent fuel deliveries under contract to Siemens from its plant in Cadarache.
