Handling of Fuel Flasks in German NPP- Safety Aspects

Handling and transport of Flasks for irradiated Fuel Elements are necessary and important for the operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP). They belong to the design conditions of a nuclear power plant and must therefore fulfil all relevant safety requirements. To get an approval for the handling and transport in Germany an expert opinion with a positive result of evaluation of the handling and transport procedures and equipment is necessary: Each step must be analysed for evaluation. TÜV Süddeutschland has performed a lot of such safety evaluations in order of the competent authorities. For handling inside the NPP-area the atom act and the traffic act come together. Procedures have proved worthwile: Up to now no heavy accident happened during handling and transport inside the NPP-area. The fixed requirements are suitable to assure safe handling now and in future.