London (Platts)--10Jul2007

Germany's environment ministry sees the cause of a fire at Vattenfall
Europe's 1,316-MW nuclear reactor Krummel on June 28 in the facility's
technology and misconduct by staff, the ministry said Tuesday in a statement.
     After a meeting with the social ministry of the state of
Schleswig-Holstein on Monday, the responsible authority for nuclear power in
that state, the federal ministry said it "sees clear signs of misconduct by
the reactor's staff."  
     "It is apparent that the [reactor's] staff did not act according to the
guidelines during the time of the emergency shut-down [of Krummel]," the
ministry said. It added: "The cause and magnitude of this misconduct require
further clarification."  
     The ministry said that before all questions are "completely clarified"
concerning possible deficits in the facility's technology and the utility's
reliability, Krummel will not be allowed to go back on the grid.
     The cause of the fire on June 28 was a short-circuit in one of the
reactor's two transformer stations. According to the ministry, an emergency
shut-down of the reactor "would not have been necessary" had the staff reacted
according to guidelines. "In this case, the reactor could have been taken off
the grid in a controlled manner and not an emergency shut-down," the ministry
said.
     The emergency shut-down caused a loss of pressure and change in the
fill-level of Krummel's cooling water "which can be the forerunner of severe
disturbances or accidents," the ministry said.
     After prior criticism of Vattenfall Europe's information policy of the
incident, the environment ministry again criticized Vattenfall Europe for its
handling of the incident as "totally inadequate." 
     According to the statement, "neither the shift-leader during the incident
nor the reactor controller were present during the meeting with the federal
ministry despite explicit request."  
     This behavior, the ministry said, "is not acceptable."