nuclear-news

Cracks found in Civaux nuclear reactors, both 1 and 2

On 21 October 2021, following ultrasonic checks scheduled during the
second ten-yearly outage of Civaux NPP reactor 1 (1450 MWe reactor), EDF
informed ASN that it had detected indications on welds on the elbows of the
safety injection system piping[2] of the reactor’s main primary system
(see image below).

As Civaux NPP reactor 2 was the only 1450 MWe reactor
not yet to have undergone these types of checks, EDF shut it down in
November 2021 so that they could be carried out ahead of the date initially
scheduled for its second ten-yearly outage.

The checks confirmed the
presence of indications similar to those of reactor 1. On 15 December 2021,
EDF informed ASN that the metallurgical analyses conducted on the parts of
the pipes removed from Civaux NPP reactor 1 had revealed the presence of
cracking resulting from an unexpected stress corrosion phenomenon on the
inner face of the piping, close to the weld bead.

 ASN 31st Jan 2022

https://www.french-nuclear-safety.fr/asn-informs/news-releases/stress-corrosion-phenomenon-detected-on-reactors

February 3, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety