Philippsburg nuclear reactor reconnects after successful evaluation

Energie Baden–Württemberg (EnBW) announced on Friday that the second unit at the Philippsburg Nuclear Power Plant in Germany has been placed online following its annual inspection.

According to the company, the inspection did not reveal any concerns. The plant has been maintained at the correct levels for safe and efficient operation.

According to Managing Director of EnBW Power Plant Operations Christoph Heil, the Philippsburg facility alongside the Neckarwestheim II facility play a key role in the energy generation of the state of Baden –Württemberg, which houses Stuttgart.

"The power plants provide the flexibility that will be required for the further expansion of renewable energies because they can compensate for the fluctuations in production experienced with wind and solar power plants,” Heil said.

This unit of the facility is a pressurized water reactor that is capable of up to 1,468 megawatts of electricity. The state Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Industry and state auditors completed the inspection.

“We are very satisfied with the progression of this year’s inspection work. All of the planned activities were successfully implemented," Thomas Franke, head of plant, said. "The cooperation between our own employees and those from external companies worked very well. Around 4,600 individual activities were completed in total, most of which could only be performed when the plant had been shut down.”