nuclear-news

France’s nuclear regulator ASN orders further safety work on EDF’s flagship next-generation nuclear plant at Flamanville

Watchdog warns EDF over weldings at flagship new nuclear plant, Ft.com 4 Oct 18 France’s nuclear regulator has said that EDF’s flagship next-generation nuclear plant at Flamanville might need further work due to faulty weldings which have already delayed the project.

In July, EDF said there would be further delays and cost overruns due to problems with the weldings. It pushed back the loading of nuclear fuel and the target construction costs at the late and over-budget plant. The state-backed energy utility said at the time that out of the 148 inspected welds, 33 had quality deficiencies and would be repaired. It said a further 20 would be reworked “even though they do not have any defects” while for another 10 it would submit a proposal to the ASN to convince the regulator of their safety. Now, the ASN has suggested, subject to further tests, that 8 of those 10 welds may need further work. The regulator said it “invites EDF to begin preparations on possible repair work to the welds concerned,” in a statement on Wednesday.“ASN also considers that the observed discrepancies indicate a failure of the monitoring carried out by EDF on certain activities of the EPR reactor site in Flamanville. It therefore asks EDF to extend the review of the quality of equipment installed on this reactor,”

“ASN also considers that the observed discrepancies indicate a failure of the monitoring carried out by EDF on certain activities of the EPR reactor site in Flamanville. It therefore asks EDF to extend the review of the quality of equipment installed on this reactor,” the ASN added………

The Flamanville plant in France is one of three being built in Europe using the next-generation European Pressurized Reactor technology. The other two projects are the Olkiluoto project in Finland, which is more than a decade late, and the UK’s Hinkley Point, which is mired in controversy over the high cost of the project.S……. https://www.ft.com/content/ec9c379a-c707-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9ocial Responsibility

October 5, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety