France: The restart of four nuclear reactors delayed | Photo credits: EDF – MERAT PIERRE
PARIS, Aug 25 (Reuters) – EDF will postpone the return to service of four of its nuclear reactors until mid-November at the earliest, which will reduce its already historically low production capacities by 5.2 gigawatts (GW). for several more weeks.
Corrosion problems causing micro-cracks in safety system pipes led the group to shut down or extend the shutdown of 12 reactors in total out of the 56 in the French fleet, to carry out in-depth examinations and repairs.
This problem and the delay in the group’s maintenance program have caused the availability of the French nuclear fleet to fall to its lowest level in 30 years, aggravating tensions in the European energy market, which has been strained by the fallout. of the war in Ukraine.
France, a historical exporter of electricity to the rest of Europe, has had to resort to imports in recent months, which has contributed to the rise in electricity prices to unprecedented levels.
Reactor No. 1 of the Penly power plant (Seine-Maritime), with a capacity of 1.3 GW, should be shut down from October 2 to January 23, 2023, EDF said, while the restart was initially scheduled for December 25th.
Delays of up to two months are also expected on three reactors at the Cattenom power plant (Moselle): the restart of reactor no. 1 is now scheduled for 1 November instead of 14 September, that of reactor no. 3 on 11 December instead of October 8 and that of n°4 on November 14 instead of October 10.
(Report Forrest Crellin and Vera Eckert, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Sophie Louet)