A public inquiry started on Thursday to gather the opinions of citizens: it is a question of knowing whether the work done by EDF to extend its No. 1 reactor at the Tricastin nuclear power station by 10 years guarantees the safety of the installation.
The “false” question of 40 years
EDF’s communication is always the same: extending reactors beyond 40 years is no more a problem than extensions beyond 20 or 30 years have been. The ten-year inspection N°4 carried out after 40 years of operation of the reactor is certainly a little heavier but it is a usual inspection: its purpose is to check that the installations can still operate in complete safety for the next ten years. .
However, some are wondering about this extension since EDF had specified in the 1970s – the date of construction of Tricastin – that these power stations were made to be operated for 40 years.
The caution of CRIIRAD
The public inquiry is therefore there to compile the various and varied opinions of citizens on the means implemented by EDF to extend the operation of reactor No. 1 from 40 to 50 years. Reactor No. 1 was coupled to the network in 1980, so 42 years ago.
The independent research and information commission on radioactivity (CRIIRAD), created in Drôme in May 1986 after the Chernobyl accident, indicates two problems for the continued operation of reactor No. 1. One is old: the reactor vessel suffers from microcracks. It was EDF who indicated this and who explains that these microcracks have not moved. Second problem posed by CRIIRAD: have we learned all the lessons of the earthquake of November 11, 2019 – said du Teil – in terms of impact and recurrence?
A very formal procedure
As usual the anti-nuclear will bring their share of petitions to demand the closure of Tricastin: this will be the case of “Stop Tricastin” which claims 45,000 signatures. But that won’t change anything: whatever the opinion given by the investigating commissioner, reactor No. 1 will continue to operate until the next ten-year inspection. The question then arises as to whether we can continue to operate for another ten years from 50 to 60 years. The opinion of citizens is of little importance in this kind of decision except to show the concerns and reluctance of some.