by America Hernandez and Forrest Crellin
PARIS (Reuters) – The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) on Friday asked EDF to inspect some 200 welds on the 56 reactors in its nuclear fleet, after the discovery this week of three new cracks in Penly and Cattenom.
A major crack was discovered on Tuesday on a circuit of reactor number 1 at the Penly power plant, in Seine-Maritime.
Two additional cracks were revealed on Thursday, one on reactor number 2 at the Penly power plant, and the other on reactor number 3 at the Cattenom power plant, in Moselle.
An EDF spokesman declined to comment on ASN’s decision, but said the two new cracks were due to “thermal fatigue”, a phenomenon linked to temperature variations, which cause expansion. and the contraction of the metal without these movements being able to take place freely.
Inspections are regularly carried out to identify this phenomenon, the spokesperson added.
This announcement comes as Paris and London agreed on Friday to move forward on bilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.
(Report America Hernandez and Forrest Crellin; French version Camille Raynaud, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
©2023 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.