Interior view of the third generation EPR reactor in Flamanville, in northwest France, June 14, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Sameer Al-DOUMY)
The epilogue of a long series: the French nuclear policeman gave the green light on Tuesday to the commissioning of the new generation EPR reactor at Flamanville in Normandy, a key step for the planned gradual launch of electricity production during the summer, twelve years later than planned.
At a time when France wants to build up to 14 reactors in France, this green light is a major step for EDF and an entire sector which intends to turn the page on a laborious 17-year project, punctuated by multiple problems and colossal additional costs.
“The commissioning authorization” delivered by the Nuclear Safety Authority will thus allow EDF to “load the nuclear fuel into the reactor and carry out start-up tests and then operation of the reactor”, explained the nuclear policeman in a press release.
Looking out to sea, next to the two other older reactors of the Flamanville power station, on the tip of Cotentin, the 1,600 MW reactor will be the most powerful in the French nuclear fleet which will now number 57.
President Emmanuel Macron should mark the event with a trip planned for mid-May to Flamanville, unconfirmed at this stage, according to a source close to the matter.
If the start-up takes place this summer, it will take place twelve years behind the departure schedule, for a total bill now estimated at 13.2 billion euros, according to EDF, or four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.
General view of the Flamanville nuclear site, in north-west France, April 24, 2024 (AFP/Archives/Lou BENOIST)
Launched in 1992 as the flagship of nuclear technology, on an initial Franco-German collaboration, the European pressurized reactor (EPR) technology was designed to relaunch the atom in Europe, after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, by offering increased safety and power.
But the promise was met with numerous setbacks. Like the first EPR project, launched in Olkiluoto (Finland) in 2005, that of Flamanville, started in 2007, experienced a succession of setbacks: cracks in the concrete of the slab, anomalies in the steel of the tank, welding defects…
– First electrons this summer –
The difficulties have often been attributed to “a form of unlearning” of the nuclear sector after “a long period of absence of nuclear projects” in the 1990s-2000s, underlines the researcher specializing in the history of nuclear power Michaël Mangeon. Added to this are “insufficiently developed studies (…), problems of governance, quality or even a regulatory context in continuous evolution”, he lists.
EPRs have already been inaugurated, two in China then that of Olkiluoto, but the next reactors that EDF intends to build in France and in Europe will be EPR2, a simplified version, according to the electrician.
“This is a new decisive step in the relaunch of nuclear power initiated by the President of the Republic. (…) Next meeting: fuel loading,” commented Bercy.
At any time, EDF can begin loading, one by one, the 241 uranium assemblies at the bottom of the reactor.
Connection to the electricity network (the “coupling”) will only take place in several months, once the reactor has reached 25% of its power. It is only at the “end of the year” that the reactor should deliver its electrons at 100% of its power, according to EDF.
Until then, EDF will still have to request three opinions from ASN: “before starting the nuclear reaction” (a step which can take several weeks), at the 25% power level, then at the 80% level, clarified Mr. Collet.
In Flamanville, EDF was waiting for a green light in the first quarter. But the authorization examination extended until “the end of April”, according to ASN, due to final compliance checks on the boiler, a key part.
In the meantime, the public consultation was held from March 27 to April 17 on the ASN website, collecting 996 contributions, with the Sortir du Nucléaire network assuring that “a large number of them are unfavorable”. “This hasty commissioning can be explained by the government’s desire to demonstrate that its French EPR can work and that EDF has completed this catastrophic project,” according to the anti-nuclear association.
The ASN assures that it has taken into account the “questions” by introducing an “additional requirement” for EDF to “inform, at least monthly”, the public of the progress of its tests, according to Mr. Collet.
Once connected to the network, Flamanville 3 will not yet have finished the work: the reactor will have to be shut down in 2026, during a maintenance visit, to replace the defective tank cover.
© 2024 AFP
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