Flawed fire safety door found at the Philippsburg Nuclear Power Facility
On August 20, 2025, an incident occurred at the decommissioned Nuclear Power Plant Philippsburg, Unit 2, where a fire door remained open after a closure request. The affected fire door, located in a firewall outside the control area between the auxiliary building and a connecting passage, is designed to prevent the spread of fire in case of a fire.
The incident was classified as Category N, with no or very low safety significance, according to the Atomic Safety Supervisor and Reporting Ordinance. The cause of the fire door malfunction was a malfunction in the pneumatic opening assistance. In normal operation, the door is open and closes automatically or manually upon request, but the opening assistance for the affected fire door was temporarily disabled to ensure it would close automatically in case of a fire.
All other measures for fire detection and firefighting in this area were fully available. The authority that controls the operator of the decommissioned Philippsburg Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2, is the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), with supervisory responsibilities usually delegated to the respective state authority in Baden-Württemberg, typically the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy Baden-Württemberg.
Reportable events in nuclear power plants are evaluated according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). The INES scale consists of seven levels: Anomaly, Incident, Serious Incident, Accident with local consequences, Accident with wider consequences, Severe Accident, Major Accident. Events significant for nuclear safety are reported to the state nuclear regulatory authorities according to the Atomic Safety Supervisor and Reporting Ordinance.
Events that cannot be classified on the INES scale (1 to 7) are assigned "Level 0" according to national assessment. The INES scale aims to provide a rapid and understandable evaluation of an event for the public.
The Ministry for Environment, Climate and Energy Affairs can be contacted via the Press Office or the Citizen Liaison Officer. The contact details for these offices are available on their respective websites.
It's important to note that the incident would not have functioned as designed in case of a fire, but manual closure by the fire department would have been possible. The incident did not have significant safety implications, as the fire was contained and all necessary safety measures were in place.
The INES evaluation scale is maintained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For more information about the INES scale, please visit the IAEA's website.
The public is advised to stay informed about such incidents and to consult reliable sources for accurate information. The safety and security of nuclear power plants are of utmost importance, and incidents like this one are carefully investigated and reported to ensure transparency and public safety.
