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AREVA’s nuclear reactor safety features now too costly to compete with Korea’s nukes

It was speculated that those expensive features may have cost the company the UAE contract, and Areva has considered scaling back some of those additions for future designs.

Where Is Nuclear Power Really Heading?A Look at Obama’s Call for New Nuclear and the Reactors that Might Be Built by  solveclimate Dave Levitan – Feb 5th, 2010

“…….The cost issues surrounding safety have already come up internationally. The United Arab Emirates awarded a high-profile contract for a new plant to a South Korean company late in 2009, after the French company Areva had been positioned as the front-runner.

The Areva EPR reactor has some advanced safety features including a “core catcher” room that could help prevent compromised nuclear fuel from escaping the reactor, as well as an enforced shell that could theoretically withstand an airplane impact. It was speculated that those expensive features may have cost the company the UAE contract, and Areva has considered scaling back some of those additions for future designs.

Areva has also run into questions from regulators regarding the EPR’s control and instrumentation systems in the United Kingdom. An example of that reactor (photo), under construction in Finland, has been delayed by at least three years and has more than doubled in price. The EPR is under certification review by the NRC in the United States.

Where Is Nuclear Power Really Heading? | SolveClimate.com

February 6, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactor, reactors