(Update: comments from the EDF Executive Director in charge of the Engineering and New Nuclear Projects Department on the Flamanville EPR, as well as the situation at Civaux, Chooz and Hinkley Point C)
PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones)–The electricity producer EDF announced on Wednesday a new postponement of the fuel loading date for the EPR reactor at the Flamanville nuclear power plant, as well as a new increase in the cost to complete of the project, which rose from 12.4 billion to 12.7 billion euros.
EDF now plans to load the fuel in the second quarter of 2023, compared to the end of 2022 previously. The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) will then have to give a so-called divergence authorization to allow the start of the chain reaction, indicated the executive director of EDF in charge of the Engineering and New Nuclear Projects Department, Xavier Ursat, during of a conference call with journalists.
Several stages of the reactor’s increase in power will follow, which will be coupled to the electricity grid when it reaches 25% of its capacity and will be able to enter commercial service after reaching 100% capacity, added Xavier Ursat. The leader thus expects the production of the first megawatt hours on the network “before the end of 2023”.
EDF also plans to replace the lid of the Flamanville EPR reactor vessel “after a first operating cycle”, indicated Xavier Ursat. ASN has requested that this operation be carried out before the end of 2024.
Started under construction at the end of 2007, the Flamanville EPR reactor was initially scheduled to start up in 2012 at an estimated cost of 3 billion euros.
The last delay due to weld repairs
“Before loading the fuel into the reactor vessel and carrying out the start-up assembly tests, several activities are still to be carried out”, including the end of the upgrade of the main secondary circuit welds and the integration of experience feedback from the technical hazard encountered on the EPR Taishan 1 type reactor, said EDF.
Welding recovery activities, following the deviations detected in 2018, are the main reason for this new delay, said Xavier Ursat. The operations to upgrade the main secondary circuit welds should indeed be completed in August 2022, and not in April 2022 as previously estimated.
In addition, the phenomenon of mechanical wear of certain assembly components observed on the number one reactor of the Chinese power plant in Taishan “does not call into question the EPR model”, moreover specified EDF.
This problem, which has already been encountered on several reactors in the French nuclear fleet, “is not linked to the power level of the EPR”, indicated the director of the Technical Department, Nicolas February.
In addition, the faults identified last year in two French nuclear power plants currently shut down, Civaux (Vienne) and Chooz (Ardennes), “do not concern Flamanville”, declared Xavier Ursat. These two plants are shut down after the observation of corrosion phenomena on the emergency cooling circuits of the reactors.
In the United Kingdom, construction work on the Hinkley Point C EPR plant is continuing according to the established schedule and the assembly of electromagnetic equipment should start “in the coming months”, indicated Xavier Ursat. The dome of reactor number one should thus be installed at the end of 2022, added the manager, specifying that the gap in project progress between the two reactors of the plant remained 12 months.
Around noon, the EDF share gained 0.4% to 10.19 euros in a Parisian market up 0.5%.
-Alice Doré, Agefi-Dow Jones; +33 (0)1 41 27 47 90; [email protected] ed: VLV – ECH
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January 12, 2022 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT)