Underground location of nuclear power plants

The first studies on underground siting of nuclear power plants date back to the 1950s. 

Four principal alternatives of underground siting exist (Fig. 21-1)  

Underground locations of NPP are few the Halden (Norway) 20 MWt test reactor, the Agesta (Sweden) 60 MWt power station for district heating (demolished in 1974 because it was uneconomic), the Chooz (France) 900 MWt SENA power station (twin of the Trino Vercellese plant in Italy), the Lucens (Switzerland) 30 MWt plant decommissioned after a 

However, high cost and long construction times have to be weighed against the potential benefit objective of improving the resistance against severe accidents. In fact, while the strength of the container 

A potential advantage of underground plants from the safety point of view is the possibility of using gravity driven emergency water injection systems and therefore more passive and potentially more reliable systems than the normal ones which use pumps. 

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Chapter 21 Underground location of nuclear power plants 211... 

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