nuclear-news

France’s nuclear company planning to extend the life of its creaky old reactors.

Electricite de France SA is reviving studies to boost the longer-term
output of some nuclear reactors as part of a plan to extend the life of its
atomic fleet to at least 60 years.

Europe’s energy crisis and rising power
prices have put such considerations back “on the company’s agenda for
2023,” according to Sylvie Richard, who’s in charge of the
state-controlled utility’s €33 billion ($35.6 billion) spending on
reactor maintenance and retrofit for the period from 2022 through 2028. The
upgrades could boost the output of some EDF reactors by 4% to 5%. If that
proves financially viable and gets approved by the nuclear safety
authority, some of the work would take place beyond 2028, Richard told
reporters at the Saint-Laurent nuclear power station in central France
Thursday.

The French nuclear giant has been tasked by President Emmanuel
Macron to extend the lifetime of its 56 reactors and to build at least six
new ones to help the country reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. However,
EDF has been grappling for more than a year with extended reactor repairs
and outages that have worsened Europe’s energy crunch, while triggering a
record loss at the company.

Bloomberg 3rd April 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/edf-mulls-reactor-upgrades-to-boost-longer-term-nuclear-output-1.1903718

April 5, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety