2024 - Flamanville EPR: nuclear reaction resumed after shutdown

[ad_1]

At the entrance to the Flavanville nuclear site, in Manche, on March 31, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Sameer Al-DOUMY)

The nuclear reaction has resumed in the EPR reactor at Flamanville (Manche), which had experienced an “automatic shutdown” on Wednesday, the day after its start-up, EDF announced on Saturday.

“The Flamanville 3 reactor has been diverging and stabilized at 0.2% power since 08:21,” a spokesperson for the group told AFP. “Divergence” is the technical term for nuclear reaction.

“The teams are resuming the activities and tests necessary to prepare for the coupling,” that is, the connection to the electricity network, “which will take place by the end of autumn,” he added.

The EPR, the subject of a construction site with many setbacks, had reached an important milestone on Tuesday with the achievement of the first nuclear fission. But several stages are still planned before it can really supply the network with electricity, with potential technical hazards.

It had experienced an “automatic shutdown” on Wednesday the day after it started.

“The event is linked to an incorrect configuration of the installation during the tests carried out after the divergence, which generated alarms and triggered the automatic order to shut down the reactor. The situation is not linked to a hardware problem with the installation, nor to the control of the nuclear reaction,” EDF explained on Saturday.

The nuclear safety authority (ASN) explained to AFP that the shutdown was the result of a “human error” in the configuration of electronic systems, the operating procedure having “not been strictly respected”.

The start-up of this new-generation nuclear reactor is 12 years behind schedule due to numerous technical setbacks which have caused the bill to explode, now estimated at 13.2 billion euros by EDF, four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.

“The start-up of the EPR is a long and complex process, which puts the equipment into service for the first time. The activation of other automatic shutdowns and the encounter of hazards remain probable until the reactor reaches full power,” warns EDF.

Did you like this article? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.