Nuclear power plant in the safety zone

As a result of political decisions, nuclear power plants in Germany are exposed to an increasingly more difficult environment On the one hand, this is due to Europeanwide deregulation of the electricity market. On the other hand, the decision by the former Red-Green federal government to opt out of using nuclear power implies a considerable limitation of plant life to a span clearly below the limits imposed by safety technology and feasible in the light of practical operation. Years ago, the management of the Unterweser nuclear power station responded to this new situation by developing and expanding a Performance Management System (PMS). This allows possible improvements in power plant processes to be recognized from real-time control information. In this way. plant operations management can be improved at all working levels. The Management View of the PMS Management Cockpit supplies information about the current status and the degree of target achievement of all key indicators of the plant. At present, seven work processes, from job processing to fault and defect notices to experience feedback, are being logged and evaluated, and are thus available to the plant staff as an important tool providing thorough, comprehensive information.