The design fault in the Taishan nuclear reactor could affect other EPR reactors, including Finland’s Olkiluoto station.

 Finnish Nuclear Safety Authority STUK has given its approval to start the
reaction nuclear and low power tests for the EPR OL3 reactor built with a
lot of difficulties by the Areva Siemens consortium in Olkiluoto.

The start took place on Tuesday 21 December 12 years behind the initial project and
with a budget multiplied by 3. The serious malfunctions that affected the
Taishan 1 EPR reactor in China show that this technology is not developed.

Information transmitted to CRIIRAD by a whistleblower indicate that the
nuclear fuel assemblies for the Taishan 1 reactor were severely damaged
during the second irradiation cycle. This situation is probably related to
a fault in design that is reasonably expected to affect other RPEs.

 CRIIRAD 22nd Dec 2021

December 24, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Finland, safety