A Swiss nuclear power plant near the German border was automatically shut down late Sunday.
According to the operator Axpo on Monday, the shutdown at the Beznau plant was linked to a failure of the electricity grid connection.
Axpo said that the plant was in a safe condition at all times.
The plant is located in Döttingen, about 7 kilometres from Germany’s south-western border.
“The shutdown caused non-radioactive water vapour to be released” via the roof of a part of the plant not involved in the nuclear reactions, the company said. Only one unit of the plant was affected.
The cause of the grid connection failure is being investigated. It is not clear when operations at the affected unit will be restarted.
Beznau 1 and Beznau 2 went into operation in 1969 and 1971 and are therefore among the oldest nuclear power plants still in operation in the world.
Switzerland has decided to phase out nuclear power, but existing plants are allowed to run as long as they are deemed safe. According to current plans, Axpo wants to decommission Beznau 1 and 2 in 2032 and 2033.
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