An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) team of experts said the operator of the Borssele NPP in the Netherlands demonstrates a commitment to its operational safety. The team encouraged the plant to continue its operational safety improvement initiatives. This was a follow-up mission to a 2023 OSART peer review mission to Borssele NPP, which also found the plant to be committed to ensuring operational safety and reliability.

Borssele NPP, located on the country’s coast – roughly 165 kilometres south of Amsterdam, is operated by Elektriciteits-Produktiemaatschappij Zuid-Nederland (EPZ) with a net electrical output of 482 MW(e), the plant is a single unit pressurised water reactor. Of the total electricity generation in the country, Borssele NPP contributes 3.2% and was put into commercial operation in 1973. The plant had previously received approval to extend the operational period to 2033, and the plant’s intention – as requested by the Dutch government – is to extend the operation until 2054.

The mission was conducted by a four-person team consisting of experts from Slovakia and Sweden and two IAEA staff members. The team held discussions with staff from the Borssele NPP and conducted site walkdowns during the review.

“The plant has already implemented many actions to enhance worker engagement in safety-related initiatives to achieve excellence in operational performance,” said team leader Yury Martynenko, Senior Nuclear Safety Officer at the IAEA. “We recognise the plant’s defined new actions to continue the way towards a culture of continuous improvement.”

The team observed that several findings from the 2023 mission were fully addressed and resolved, including:

  • The plant leadership enhanced the engagement of workers through initiatives to achieve excellence in operational performance.
  • The plant promoted the use of operator-supportive aids to prevent the use of non-authorised operating material.
  • The plant improved arrangements to timely address improper behaviours and resolve radiological field deficiencies to ensure these are addressed in a timely manner.

The team noted areas where satisfactory progress was made, but further efforts are required by the plant to fully implement some actions drawn up after the 2023 mission, including:

  • Strengthening its programmes for system health monitoring and obsolescence to minimise the potential risk of degradation of plant systems and components;
  • Improving the plant’s provisions for protective actions in case of an emergency to ensure timely and efficient emergency response; and,
  • Strengthening the radiation protection practices for contamination control, dose planning and the control of radioactive sources to ensure that the requirements of the radiation protection programme are fully met.

“I am very pleased with the result and especially the way in which this has been achieved with a lot of engagement of our employees across the whole organization,” said EPZ CEO Carlo Wolters. “EPZ is very committed to continue the improvement journey to achieve the highest level of excellence in safe and reliable operations of the power plant.”

The OSART team provided a draft report of the mission to the plant management. They will have the opportunity to make factual comments on the draft. These comments will be reviewed by the IAEA, and the final report will be submitted to the Netherlands within three months.