L’The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) validated, on Wednesday July 27, EDF’s control strategy concerning the corrosion problems encountered on certain reactors in its French fleet. EDF plans to check all of its reactors by 2025 using ultrasound to look for any traces of this problem, which has led to the shutdown of 12 out of 56 reactors. The group must check the most sensitive areas as a priority. 1,450 MW reactors and some 1,300 MW.
“ASN considers that EDF’s strategy is appropriate given the knowledge acquired about the phenomenon and the associated safety issues,” it said in a press release. “However, with regard to reactor 2 of the Belleville nuclear power plant, the ASN considers that the inspection of this reactor, scheduled for 2024, is too late”, she specifies.
12 reactors shut down for corrosion
ASN considers that knowledge of the so-called “stress corrosion” phenomenon is “still evolving” and that “the inspection program will have to be adapted if the inspections or analyzes reveal new elements”.
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This problem of corrosion on certain circuits weighs down the prospects for nuclear electricity production and financial results this year for EDF, whose government has planned to renationalise 100%. It also raised concerns for France’s electricity supply next winter. Thirty reactors out of 56 are currently shut down, including 12 for corrosion and 18 for scheduled maintenance.
From this point of view, ASN’s decision on Wednesday does not aggravate the situation, because the nuclear policeman is not calling for faster checks, synonymous with reactor shutdowns, but essentially validates the EDF. The electricity producer had considered in May that it was “not necessary to anticipate new reactor shutdowns”.
Positive reactions
“I find it rather reassuring that ASN is making this decision,” reacted Sébastien Menesplier, of the CGT Mines-Énergie, interviewed by AFP. “Given the energy situation today and that of the production fleet, so much the better that the ASN validates this. Otherwise, we would have been in a hell of a mess, ”he said.
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Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Minister of Energy Transition, for her part welcomed “the culmination of the work between the Nuclear Safety Authority and EDF”. “They testify to the full mobilization of their teams to find the best solutions and ensure the operation of the nuclear fleet in compliance with the highest safety requirements”, she judged.