French President says discussions continue with Germany about nuclear power as ”green”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France and Germany would
continue discussions in the coming days to find a compromise on whether the
European Union should label nuclear and gas as green investments. France
wants to be able to attract green finance to fund the construction of new
nuclear power plants in France, while Germany is phasing out nuclear and
keen on switching to gas — a fossil fuel. Macron said in a joint news
conference with his German counterpart Olaf Scholz that a decision on the
subject, the so-called green taxonomy, would soon be issued by the European
Commission.
Reuters 17th Dec 2021
Uncertainties persist, as France shuts down the 4 largest nuclear reactors, because of corrosion and cracks
Corrosion and cracks: the four largest French nuclear reactors shut down.
Four reactors were shut down by EDF, at the Civaux and Chooz power plants, due to a failure of an essential part in the event of an accident. Many uncertainties persist on the consequences of this discovery.
Reporterre 16th Dec 2021
Challenges 15th Dec 2021
France’s EDF takes more nuclear reactors offline after faults found.
| France’s EDF takes more nuclear reactors offline after faults found. French power giant EDF said on Wednesday it had found faults on pipes in a safety system at its Civaux nuclear power station, and it would shut down another plant because it used the same kind of reactors. The setback comes as France plans a major nuclear power station building program, diverging from neighbour Germany which retreated from nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. Reuters 15th Dec 2021 https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/edf-extend-civaux-nuclear-outage-shut-down-reactors-chooz-safety-measures-2021-12-15/ |
EDF shuts down nuclear reactors on safety concerns
| Electricite de France SA’s 2021 earnings could take a slight hit from the temporary closure of reactors at two nuclear plants on safety grounds, the French energy company said late Wednesday. Faults were detected on both reactors during routine safety checks at EDF’s Civaux plant in France’s southwestern Vienne department, EDF said. The faults related to pipes on the safety injection system circuit, it said. The company and the country’s nuclear safety agency, the ASN, have decided to replace the affected parts on the two reactors, meaning their shutdown will be extended. EDF has also decided to shut down the two reactors at another nuclear plant at Chooz in the northeastern Ardennes department to check them for similar issues, since they use the same technology as those at Civaux. One will be shut down Thursday and the other Saturday, EDF said. Market Watch 16th Dec 2021 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/edf-shuts-down-nuclear-reactors-on-safety-concerns-revises-2021-target-271639637549 |
EDF to delay maintenance outages at 3 nuclear reactors in France, to avoid a supply shortage
EDF will delay outages at three nuclear reactors in France – Flamanville
1, 2 (1,300 MW each) and Gravelines 3 (910 MW) – to avoid a supply crunch
this winter, its latest transparency data showed on Tuesday. A maintenance
outage at Flamanville 2 was postponed from 29 January.
Montel 14th Jan 2021
https://www.montelnews.com/news/1282408/edf-postpones-3-reactor-outages-to-avert-supply-crunch
EDF shares slide after faults found at nuclear plant
EDF shares slide after faults found at nuclear plant. Shares in EDF EDF.PA
plunged on Thursday after the French power giant found faults at a nuclear
power station and shut down another plant using the same kind of reactors,
leading it to cut its core profit goal for this year.
FT 16th Dec 2021
https://www.ft.com/content/430280fc-250d-4fc2-863c-a0b16a960018
To obtain authorisation to commission the Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor, EDF must get full infomation on the incident at the Taishan EPR reactor.
To obtain authorization to commission the Flamanville EPR, EDF will first have to shed light on the Taishan EPR 1 incident in China, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) told Reporterre. Thursday, December 9. “ASN asked EDF to take account of the experience feedback from this event prior to the commissioning of the Flamanville EPR reactor.
To do this, EDF will either have to demonstrate that the Flamanville EPR is not affected, or propose
measures to prevent fuel degradation, “ASN wrote. “EDF is currently working in conjunction with the operator of Taishan (TNPJVC) and Framatome on the interpretation of the results of the checks on the fuel unloaded from the Taishan 1 reactor.
These analyzes aim to identify the phenomena that led to the rupture of the ducts. fuel and to determine whether the other EPR reactors are concerned, ”ASN added. The French nuclear gendarme says it has not obtained any information concerning the restart of Taishan 1 “which falls under the competence of its Chinese counterpart (NNSA)”.
Reporterre 13th Dec 2021
France’s Court of Audits demands information on the costs of future EPR nuclear reactors, and cost implications for waste management.
The Court of Auditors called on Monday to take into account the uncertainties surrounding the cost of future EPR2 nuclear reactors, and to foresee the implications for waste management, as President Macron
announced the launch of a new construction program. “Regarding the cost of future EPR 2, uncertainty ranges on construction costs should be systematically tested, given the lack of maturity of this new reactor”, note the magistrates in their conclusions.
Le Figaro 13th Dec 2021
Protesters denounce French push to label nuclear as sustainable energy
Protesters denounce French push to label nuclear as sustainable energyReuters PARIS, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Demonstrators unfurled a banner declaring “Gas & nuclear are not green” outside France’s foreign ministry on Tuesday in protest at a government drive to label nuclear energy and fossil gas as sectors for climate-friendly investment……………
Protesters denounce French push to label nuclear as sustainable energy, Reuters PARIS, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Demonstrators unfurled a banner declaring “Gas & nuclear are not green” outside France’s foreign ministry on Tuesday in protest at a government drive to label nuclear energy and fossil gas as sectors for climate-friendly investment……………
The European Union is preparing a rulebook on climate friendly investments, which from next year will define which activities can be labelled as green in sectors including transport and buildings.
The EU’s aim is to restrict the green investment label to climate-friendly activities, steer cash into low-carbon projects and stop companies or investors making unsubstantiated environmental claims.
The French government hopes that having the sustainable energy label could boost France’s struggling nuclear energy industry, which was bailed out by the state in 2017 following construction delays and cost overruns.
“By taking the lead of the toxic alliance between fossil gas and nuclear (energy) at a European level, Emmanuel Macron clearly sides with the polluters’ camp. Nuclear is not a green energy: it produces radioactive waste that piles up across the country”, said Nicolas Nace, a member of environmentalist group Greenpeace.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said last month that one of the priorities of France’s six-month EU presidency, starting on Jan. 1, would be to include nuclear power in Europe’s sustainable finance taxonomy.
Some EU countries, including Germany, do not agree with this policy.
France generates about three quarters of its electricity in nuclear reactors operated by state-owned utility EDF. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/protesters-denounce-french-push-label-nuclear-sustainable-energy-2021-12-14/
“Nuclear power has no future inFrance”.
Thierry Gadault gave a conference on French nuclear power on December 3,
2021 in Orleans with a shocking title: “Nuclear power has no future in
France”. This independent journalist who has been investigating the atom
for ten years is the co-author of the book Nuclear, immediate danger (2018,
Flammarion) and the TV documentary Nuclear, the end of a myth broadcast on
Public Senate in 2018. He granted at Magcentre an exclusive interview.
Magcentre 8th Dec 2021
Inherent design flaw in EPRs (European Pressurised or Evolutionary Power Reactors) casts doubt on future of UK’s Hinkley and Sizewell nuclear projects.
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities network (NFLA) has been alarmed to
receive a French scientific report that a radioactive leak recently
reported by the operators of a Chinese nuclear power plant could signify a
potentially fatal design flaw in new reactors planned for the UK.
In June 2021, nuclear operator, Framatome, a subsidiary of French-state owned power
utility, EDF, reported a leak of radioactive gas at the Taishan 1 nuclear
power plant in China. It is still unclear what the cause was, but a rupture
of the uranium rods within the reactor core as a result of abnormal wear
and tear was suspected.
Now the French Commission for Independent Research
and Information on Radioactivity (Criirad) has reported to the French
Nuclear Safety Authority that a problem with the design of the vessel
causes early wear in the reactor, that this inherent design flaw is common
to all EPRs (for European Pressurised or Evolutionary Power Reactors), and
that the accident at Taishan ‘raises serious questions in terms of
nuclear safety and radiation protection, both for plant workers and for
residents.
Although French worries revolve around the future safety of the
Flammaville 3 EPR, the NFLA is also gravely concerned that the latest news
puts into question the future safety of EPRs planned for the UK. An EPR to
the same design is currently under construction at Hinkley Point C in
Somerset and there is a further proposed plant at Sizewell, Suffolk.
NFLA 7th Dec 2021
Nuclear power is a failure – former French Environment Minister
Yves Cochet: “The nuclear failure” Former Minister of the Environment. Against the recent projects announced by the President of the Republic for the revival of nuclear power in France, Yves Cochet, former Minister of the Environment, recalls how the history of this energy sector is marked by a
succession of setbacks.
Despite seventy years of nuclear energy research and development, nuclear energy remains a failure caused by a list of setbacks such that one is enough to destroy any prospect of lasting success. Nuclear power today only contributes 5% of global energy supply and 10% of electricity production, this share has been steadily declining for twenty-five years, while the share of renewable electricity has now surpassed that of nuclear power.
Le Monde 4th Dec 2021
https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2021/12/04/yves-cochet-l-echec-du-nucleaire_6104683_3232.html
France joins the Small Nuclear Reactor frenzy, bringing out its odd version ”NAAREA”
French engineering group Assystem has signed a cooperation agreement with
newly-created French micro-reactor developer Naarea to build its
ultra-compact eXtra Small Modular Reactor (XSMR). Dassault Systèmes is to
supply Naarea with a cloud-based platform on which to virtually design the
1 to 40 MW molten salt reactor. Naarea expects the first units of XSMR to
be produced by 2030.
The company says its ultra-compact molten salt reactor uses “the untapped potential of used radioactive materials, and thorium, unused mining waste.” Naarea noted, “The current stocks of these two wastes will supply the energy needs of humanity for thousands of years, and reconcile humanity with its future.”
World Nuclear News 3rd Dec 2021
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Assystem-to-cooperate-with-Naarea-on-micro-reactor
France’s government in some confusion about when construction of new nuclear reactors will begin
After Emmanuel Macron’s announcements on the revival of the French nuclear fleet, the Senate on Tuesday organized a debate with the government on the “energy sovereignty” of the country.
Minister Emmanuelle Wargon was once again unclear about the uncertainties that reign around the
precise timetable for the construction of new reactors. Faced with questions from the Senate, Minister Emmanuelle Wargon attempted to clarify the government’s position, which is probably subject to final arbitration or simply to technological data that are not yet available:
“We will give preference to the high-power EPR technology proven in Europe and China, which is better suited to the French electricity transmission network. SMRs could have long-term advantages and would then complete the mix as a back-up technology in a second phase, after 2030, by 2040.”
Public Senat 17th Nov 2021
Costs of electricity from Flamanville nuclear power station will be three times higher than from the most competitive renewable sources
The production costs of nuclear electricity from the Flamanville EPR will be three times higher than those of the most competitive renewable sources, says Greenpeace in a report published Wednesday.
The environmental organization, which calls for a 100% renewable electricity mix by 2050-2060, highlights “a difference of the order of EUR 100 to 110 / MWh” between nuclear power from the pressurized European reactor (EPR ), the cost of which is estimated at EUR 164 / MWh, and ground-based photovoltaicand onshore wind power. It assesses the production of the historical park at EUR 72 / MWh, against EUR 52 / MWh according to EDF and EUR 48 / MWh according to the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE).
Montel News 24th Nov 2021
1 This Month
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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