It’s a different kind of epidemic, but it’s spreading. Five of the 56 French nuclear reactors are now shut down for some corrosion problems. In some cases, the shutdown will even last until the end of the year, announced EDF on Friday evening.
The restart of reactor number 2 at the Chooz power plant, in the Ardennes, has been postponed from April to the end of December 2022, according to data published by EDF on its site. And investigations are continuing to determine if Chooz reactor number 1 is also affected. Its restart has already been postponed to July 27, specifies EDF, and not February 11 as expected so far. The restart of the two Civaux reactors, in Vienne, is scheduled for August 31 for the first reactor and December 31 for the second. Finally, it is the turn of the Penly power plant, in Normandy, to be affected by this problem: Penly 1 is thus shut down until May 30th.
Five nuclear reactors shut down
These five reactors (Civaux 1, Civaux 2, Chooz 1, Chooz 2 and Penly 1) alone represent approximately 12% of French nuclear capacity. These unplanned stops will therefore have impact on electricity supply, while the tension on the security of electricity supply is already strong this winter. EDF has already had to lower its nuclear electricity production forecasts by 10% in France. And there might be other stops. EDF has also announced that it will continue its checks on the entire French nuclear fleet. “EDF has initiated a review of all the checks that had been carried out in the past for all the reactors in the fleet”, detailed Julien Collet, the deputy director general of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), on Friday. A re-examination of the inspection documents, which may lead to physical inspections and possible repairs if there is a suspicion of corrosion, and therefore other reactor shutdowns.