(Paris) A corrosion problem on the safety system of French nuclear reactors has spread to at least one other reactor, a new setback that comes at a bad time when the electricity supply is tight and when the sector is scrutinized as never before .
Posted at 2:14 p.m.
“The defects that have been observed on the latest generation reactors have been observed on another reactor” in Penly (in the north-west of France), which is already shut down, Karine told AFP on Thursday. Herviou, Deputy Director General of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).
The problem had so far only been identified on more powerful and recent 1450 megawatt reactors. That of Penly is a 1300 MW reactor.
Électricité de France had announced in mid-December the precautionary shutdown of the two reactors of the Chooz power plant (north-east) to check for possible faults on its emergency cooling circuit, after the detection of faults in Civaux ( center), another plant of the same model, whose shutdown was then extended.
10 of the 56 French reactors are shut down
The shutdown of the four reactors at Civaux and Chooz in the middle of December had deprived France of 10% of its nuclear capacity and caused electricity prices to jump, already very high, on the market.
France, which derives the vast majority of its electricity from nuclear power, had a total of 10 out of 56 reactors unavailable on Thursday and was deprived of 20% of its capacity, at a time when consumption is usually high with falling temperatures.
The new problems revealed on Thursday come at a time when France is wondering about its energy future, between the desire to fight against climate change and ensure its security of supply at the best price.
Nuclear power is one of the divisive themes of the current French presidential campaign, with candidates in favor of this energy (particularly on the right, on the far right, but also among the Communists) and others hostile (La France insoumise party and FI and Europe Ecology Party the Greens, in particular).
Macron wants to build more
President Emmanuel Macron, who has not yet declared himself a candidate for a second term, has often touted the advantages of nuclear power, especially from a climate point of view. He announced in November that France would launch a new nuclear reactor construction program.
It is currently building only one new generation, the Flamanville EPR (Manche), which has experienced many delays. The last one has just been announced on Wednesday: the loading of fuel has been postponed from the end of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023, for an increased bill of 300 million euros.