EPZ Welcomes Control Room Simulator For On-Site Training

Last week, EPZ (ENS Corporate Member) inaugurated the control room simulator to train operators at the Borssele nuclear power plant, in the Netherlands.

This simulator, an exact copy of the control room in Borssele, was previously located in Essen, Germany.

Due to the complete shutdown of all the German nuclear power plants, the simulators were no longer used, so it has been decided to move the simulator from Essen to Borssele by the end of this year.

From now on, Borssele employees can spend their training weeks (on average, 18 days a year) on-site, maintaining their high-skilled preparation and developing the skills for the future.

The simulator is located in one of the existing buildings on the EPZ site, which was previously housing the control room of the old coal-fired power station, a plant demolished in 2019.

Read the full EPZ Press Release (in Dutch).

In 2022, the Dutch Government announced its commitment to build new nuclear power plants in the Netherlands and to extend the operating life of the existing plant in Borssele.

EPZ has already started the study into an operational life extension beyond 2034 when the current legislation says that the nuclear power plant will close.

Read more about that in the story shared in the latest ENS Newsletter.

In December 2022, the government also confirmed the selection of the Borssele site as a preferred location for the proposed construction of two new nuclear power reactor units.

The government stated that Borssele has “sufficient space” for new buildings and houses existing infrastructure, including a radioactive waste repository run by COVRA.

According to the cabinet statement, the units should be deployed by 2035, have each a capacity between 1,000 MW and 1,650 MW, and use a Generation III+ reactor technology. Once operational, the new NPPs can supply 9-13% of the country’s total electricity.