Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Introduction
Abstract
The safety of German nuclear power plants in the event of a postulated
aircraft impact is addressed. The related requirements increased during the last
decades and led to adequate constructive design measures.
The safety of nuclear power plants in the event of a postulated aircraft impact
has been discussed by the general public and experts in Germany for many years
(see [
1
]). This led to the design and implementation of safety measures for such
incidents beginning in the 1970s of the previous century. The basis for initial
considerations was the accidental crash of a fast flying military aircraft. Due to
the special situation in West Germany with the stationing of NATO partners, a high
number of low-flying military aircraft movement could be observed, fraught with
numerous crashes. Since 1977 new nuclear power plants and comparable facilities
in Germany have been required to comply with design standards to take into
account the possibility of an airplane crash (see [
2
]to[
4
]). Load assumptions
were defined by the German Reactor Safety Commission guidelines (
RSK-Guide-
lines
) in 1981 based on the impact of a Phantom with a mass of 20 ton and a speed
of 215 m/s. A design according to these requirements aimed simultaneously to the
protection against the hazard of third party actions.
The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001
were cause for the evaluation of the safety standards of German nuclear power
plants in the case of a comparable terrorist attack. The question arises whether the
power plants are adequately protected against a deliberate forced crash with large
commercial aircraft and what dangers this may pose to the general public. The
decision to turn off the eight oldest reactors after the events in Fukushima in 2011
was also significantly influenced by the factor of a possible airplane crash. For this
reason, a special contribution in this topic deals with this issue. An emphasis is
placed on possible crash scenarios and the determination of the load approaches.
