Germany demands answers after Swiss nuclear reactor is restarted… and then shut down again via The Local

The German environment minister has demanded answers from the Swiss authorities after the Leibstadt nuclear reactor in the canton of Aargau near the German border was switched off on Friday night, just seven hours after being restarted following a six months shutdown.

 

Shortly after the reactor was brought on line at around 5.30pm on Friday, operator KKL noted a malfunction of the exhaust system responsible for filtering gases from the condenser in a non-nuclear area of the reactor, KKL said in a statement.

The system was manually shut down “in an orderly manner” and the incident was not classed as a dangerous incident.

 

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During the inspection process nothing called into question the safety of the reactor, said ENSI in a statement.

However it seems this has not convinced the German environment minister, Rita Schwarzelühr-Shutter, who on Saturday said it was “unfortunate” that the reactor had been restarted without its problems being completely clarified, reported German media.

 

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Greenpeace has also criticized the move, while 16,000 people have signed a petition against the reactor led by a Swiss Green Party politician, reported Swiss news agencies.

Some 12 Swiss and German groups have written to the Swiss government to demand the shutdown of the reactor.