Le Parisien 19th June 2017 A drone flew over a nuclear power plant located in the commune of Avoine, a
few kilometers from Chinon, Sunday evening in the early evening. An
investigation is underway. The Chinon nuclear power plant was overflown
by a drone on Sunday night. At around 8:20 pm, a small flying object was
observed by a station employee. Thirty minutes later, the specialized
gendarmes go to the scene, view the video surveillance images and confirm
the employee’s testimony. A research device was launched by the soldier. No
results so far. A complaint must be filed by the plant manager. The inquiry
is conducted by the Chinon Research Brigade. http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/indre-et-loire-un-drone-survole-la-centrale-nucleaire-de-chinon-19-06-2017-7066137.php
June 21, 2017
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Reuters 19th June 2017, A fire that broke out on the roof of a nuclear reactor at the Bugey plant
in central-eastern France has been extinguished, operator EDF said on
Monday, citing fire brigade officials. The fire began at the plant’s
nuclear reactor number 5, some 35 kilometers from the city of Lyon, nuclear
regulator ASN said earlier in a statement. EDF said in a separate statement
there were no injuries or fatalities, while safety body IRSN said on
Twitter that sensors had not picked up any increase in radiation. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-power-nuclearpower-idUSKBN19A2AH
June 21, 2017
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Reporterre 17th June 2017 [Machine Translation] Here is an edifying and accessible book that reveals
the mysteries of the atomic industry in general and the operation of our nuclear power plants in particular.
On the occasion of its release, the Network Sortir du nucléaire has created its own publishing house, Yasnost’Editions. The author, Nozomi Shihiro, comes from the EDF seraglio and has endorsed the operator’s doctrine on transparency: “To tell the public everything he would not like to learn from others . He writes,however, under a pseudonym for fear of passing under the Caudines forks of his enterprise.
Throughout the book he endeavors to show that the transparency chanted by the national electrician is in reality only powder for the attention of the disinformed populations and the docile political world.
https://reporterre.net/Dans-les-arcanes-de-l-industrie-atomique
June 19, 2017
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Dave Toke’s Blog 15th June 2017, The French Government’s announcement that it will legislate for a carbon floor price of 30 euros per MWh marks a dramatic turn in EU energy markets which will now be shifted to favour nuclear power above renewables. This is because just over half of nuclear power generated in the EU come from reactors in France, whereas less than 10 per cent of EU renewable energy production comes from France.
The fact that nuclear power is being given special privileges undermines the policy credibility of the Green Energy
Minister Nichals Hulot who has just been appointed by President Macron.
Given that three-quarters of electricity in France comes from nuclear power, and very little from fossil fuels, this measure is a thinly disguised extra incentive for nuclear power, an incentive that the large bulk of renewable generation in the EU will not be able to receive.
Only the UK has a carbon floor price, which is around 17 per cent lower than the proposed French one. A case in point is Germany, which generates a third of the wind power in the EU. German electricity wholesale power prices are
relatively low – much lower than in the case of the UK for example, and there are fears that some windfarms will no longer be economic after their feed-in tariff contracts end after 2020. But they would be likely to stay online of they had access to the carbon floor price being set in France.
There is no carbon floor price in Germany. Macron seems, in energy at least, to be continuing ‘business as usual’ in letting EDF run the French state. The French Government has effectively ploughed several billions into bankrupt nuclear generators AREVA and also injected money to EDF through a ‘share flotation’ (EDF is 85 per cent owned by the French Government) that seems associated with building Hinkley C power station.
http://realfeed-intariffs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/france-to-tilt-eu-energy-market-towards.html
June 19, 2017
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Capital 15th June 2017, [Machine Translation] Documents from the Institute of Radiation Protection
and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) show that the EPR pressure vessel does not pass a strength test. It would therefore not be in compliance with the regulations, contrary to what is being said.
Areva and EDF play a major part of their economic future this month. First session today: As the Echos recall, the High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety meets to discuss the safety of the EPR nuclear reactor vessel built by Areva on behalf of a group of companies, EDF in Flamanville.
At the end of June, it will be up to the Permanent Expert Group on Nuclear Pressure Equipment (GPESPN) to assess its working. It will examine the findings of another body: the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the
technical expert of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN).
A technical note published by IRSN last April, but until now completely unnoticed, shows that the pressure vessel does not comply with the regulation of nuclear equipment under pressure. And poses a major safety problem. Hidden in the
middle of a mass of documents put online, it is dated September 2015 and signed by Gérard Gary, a nuclear physicist, research director emeritus ex-CNRS attached to the laboratory of solid mechanics of the Ecole
http://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/epr-de-flamanville-cette-note-d-expert-qui-pointe-le-danger-de-la-cuve-1232494
June 19, 2017
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Major Changes on Whistleblowing in France, Lexology
Blog The Anticorruption Blog Squire Patton Boggs France June 16 2017
From January 1, 2018, there will be an obligation on almost all employers to implement reporting/whistleblowing schemes.
France has historically been very reluctant to support workplace whistleblowing, especially anonymously. Whistleblowing schemes were effectively only authorized in 2005 to permit US companies to comply with their SOX obligations. Those regulations were very restrictive, limited to employees and only in relation to certain legal breaches.
However, since December 2016, we now have a law relating to “transparency, the fight against corruption and modernization of business life,” also known as “Sapin 2.” This has introduced a number of changes, including the obligation to implement whistleblowing schemes and anti-corruption compliance programs.
Definition of Whistleblower
Sapin 2 Law defines a whistleblower (in French “lanceur d’alerte”) as:
- Any individual (i.e., not limited to employees)
- Acting in good faith
- Reporting or revealing a crime, a serious and manifest breach to an international treaty, a serious breach of a law or regulation, or a serious threat or harm to the public interest
- Of which he or she has personal knowledge……….
Principles Governing Reporting Schemes
- Reporting schemes must protect the identity of the whistleblower, the identity of any person incriminated and the information collected. The disclosure of any of these details carries up to two years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine (€150,000 for corporations)……….
Breach of Secrecy by the Whistleblower
A whistleblower will not be liable for breaching a secrecy obligation by law provided that:
- The disclosure is necessary and proportionate for the protection of the interests at stake, and
- The reporting procedures provided by law are complied with
However, Sapin 2 does not allow a whistleblower to disclose information covered by doctor/patient or client/lawyer professional secrecy or national security.
No Retaliation
Whistleblowers are protected from retaliation in the hiring process, in terms of access to an internship or professional courses or in salary or otherwise. However, where the report is made in bad faith, the employee can:
June 19, 2017
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France to close some nuclear reactors, says ecology minister Hulot, Reuters, 13 June 17, French environment and energy minister Nicolas Hulot said on Monday that the government plans to close some nuclear reactors of state-controlled utility EDF (
EDF.PA) to reduce nuclear’s share of the country’s power mix.
He gave no indication of timing.
Hulot told reporters at the G7 environment summit in the Italian city of Bologna that it was too early to give numbers about France’s aim to reduce the share of nuclear in its power generation to 50 percent from the current 75 percent.
“We are going to close some nuclear reactors and it won’t be just a symbolic move,” he said.
EDF shares, which were down 0.8 percent before Hulot’s comments, immediately fell further to stand 2.2 percent lower.
Asked about the possibility of introducing a carbon tax, Hulot said “France already has a carbon tax which we increase every year. At an EU level we want to increase the threshold,” he said……https://www.reuters.com/article/us-edf-nuclear-idUSKBN1931AD
June 14, 2017
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11 June 17, Alternatives Economiques, [Machine Translation] Who decides on the energy policy of France,especially for electricity? The president of EDF, the minister of ecological and solidarity transition, in charge of energy, or the tenant of Bercy? Perpetual question that sends a lot of ink and weakens EDF, torn between conflicting interests.
It is time for the government to address the problems ofthe 83% -owned state, which is currently heavily indebted and whose financial situation is worrying.
On 6 April, EDF presented a strategic plan for its future investments as part of its Board of Directors’ plan of multiannual energy programming (PPE) 1 published at the end of October. On April 21, Ségolène Royal wrote to Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of the EDF group, asking him to review his copy because “the actions foreseen by EDF do not make it possible to respect the objectives of diversification of electricity production set in the PPE “.
Among the points raised by the former minister, the absence of measures or means to prepare the closure of nuclear power plants, such as Fessenheim or coal.
Stopping a power station is not very complicated. Nuclear power stations are shut down regularly in France for maintenance or incidents. On the other hand, preparing the retraining of employees, developing new activities at the level of employment areas, organizing training courses for new trades … all this takes time.
EDF’s strategic plan, silent on these aspects, reveals the company’s will: to drag things out as much as possible. Moreover, it is rumored that EDF would have established a plan to reduce the share of nuclear energy to 50% in the energy mix by 2050 and not 2025 as foreseen in the energy transition law. EDF, but is not in any case in a hurry to revise its
strategic plan transmitted to the State. Why can not the state, which guarantees the implementation of the objectives of the Energy Transition Act, be heard?
For that, it would have to speak with one voice. And that is far from the case. For the shareholder state also has its interests in the matter. According to the Court of Auditors, it received a total of 11.3 billion euros of dividends between 2011 and 2016, an amount that the sages of the rue Cambon consider as exorbitant compared to the usual practices.
This financial interest has up to now pushed the State to support the nuclear sector and to defend the prolongation of the lifetime of power stations already depreciated, according to a short-term vision, which hampers investment in renewable energy energy savings.
But now, things are complicated for EDF, with a drop in its turnover and its production of electricity of nuclear origin. Moreover, very heavy investments are emerging: 55 billion euros in 10 years for the large fairing (upgrading of nuclear reactors), 15 to 20 billion euros for the two British EPRs of Hinkley Point, etc. https://www.alternatives-economiques.fr/anne-bringault/energie-edf-va-t-reviser-plan-strategique/00079236
June 12, 2017
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Dave Toke’s Blog 27th May 2017 It’s now the middle of 2017 and still, after 12 years of trying to build the French European Pressurised Reactor, there is still no model in operation. Even in China, which has, according to some of its domestic critics, let us say a more relaxed attitude to safety requirements compared to western agencies, the EPR at Taishan is still not generating electricity.
It was 16 months ago that the constructors announced that ‘cold start’ tests had been successful and that the whole of the plant (including two sets) would be fully functional this year (2017). Now they say that this will not happen, although one set ‘will’ be running sometime in the second half of this year. But then the plant, which begun construction in 2009, was supposed to be finished in 2013. This failure does present the question of how it is that other nuclear plant built in
China have not been subject to this much delay.
How can we explain this? The obvious reason is that the EPR is a turkey that is widely regarded as bordering on, if not actually, ‘unconstructable’. The difference with other nuclear plant built in China may simply be that the EPR was designed to suit western safety standards.
It’s an easy guess to say what this means for Chinese plans to build nuclear power plant in the UK! In France
construction at the EPR at Flamanville began in 2007 and completion by 2019 seems possible but uncertain. The other EPR at Olkiluoto started in 2005 and is about, so they say. to undergo ‘cold tests’. On the basis of what has happened in Taishan this doesn’t mean that it is about the generate electricity, though. http://realfeed-intariffs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/more-delays-in-epr-signals-more.html
May 31, 2017
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French nuclear regulator delays Flamanville ruling to autumn
ASN again delays ruling on safety of Flamanville reactor
* Postpones ruling to “autumn” from “end of summer”
* Will issue provisional ruling in July, then seek input (Adds new ASN statement)
Reuters, By Geert De Clercq PARIS, May 30 French nuclear regulator ASN said on Tuesday it will “probably” issue a final ruling in the autumn on whether the reactor that utility EDF is building in Flamanville is safe for use, in the latest delay in the process.
The ASN said in 2015 it had discovered excessive carbon concentrations in the cover and bottom of the Flamanville reactor vessel, which can weaken the mechanical resilience of the steel and its ability to resist the spreading of cracks.
Since then, Areva, which designed the EPR reactor, EDF and the ASN have been testing whether weak spots could jeopardise the safety of the reactor.
The regulator’s green light about the reactor vessel is crucial for EDF and Areva, as European Union antitrust authorities have made it a precondition for their approval of EDF’s planned takeover of Areva’s reactor unit.
The ASN has repeatedly postponed deadlines for ruling on the safety of reactor vessel.
And in what will be another delay, an ASN spokesman said in an email that the regulator now expected a “firm position probably in (the) autumn”……
Earlier on Tuesday, the ASN said it expected to receive technical reports about the reactor vessel by the end of next month. It will analyse these and then draft a provisional ruling on Flamanville, which will be made public in early to mid-July. It will then invite feedback on this ruling from the public, civil society, local authorities and the companies involved.
With the Flamanville reactor vessel welded in place in 2013 and covered by thousands of tonnes of concrete since then, taking out the vessel would delay the reactor startup by several years and cost billions of euros.
EDF has repeatedly said it is confident the ASN will find the vessel fit for operation……
The Flamanville reactor is years behind schedule and billions over budget, but EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said this month EDF plans to load fuel in the reactor before end-2018. Construction in Flamanville started in 2007 and the plant was supposed to go online in 2012, but EDF has announced new delays and cost overruns every few years. The company said in 2015 the reactor would cost 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion), up from an initial budget of 3 billion. ($1 = 0.8948 euros) (Editing by Mark Potter/Alexander Smith) http://www.reuters.com/article/edf-flamanville-asn-idUSL8N1IW4N6
May 31, 2017
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La Manche Libre 26th May 2017, two associations filed an appeal to the Council of State for excess of power in the file of the EPR Flamanville (Manche). On Thursday, March 23, 2017, the State had authorized the construction site of the Flamanville EPR for three years more than the initial period of 10 years.
A decision today challenged by two associations, the Crilan (Committee for Reflection, Information and Anti-Nuclear Struggle) and Our Affair to All. On Tuesday, May 23, 2017, they appealed to the Conseil d’Etat for an abuse of power. The application relies on two points of the law of 13 June 2006 on transparency and security in nuclear matters: The fact that the law imposes a time limit for such a project and that it has not been respected. “There are no regulations that allow the state to change the duration of a decree,” advocates the lawyer of Caen Gervais Doutressoulle.
According to him, a new decree should have been taken, but this would have led to a new public consultation. The law also states that, in the event of a “significant” or”substantial” change, the authorization decree then lapses. A new text is needed. The recourse lists nine sets of modifications in relation to the project presented initially. He cites, for example, the composition of the tank, whose fate is expected to be known this summer, the cost spent from 2.8 billion euros to more than 10 billion euros, or the choice of fuel.
The Council of State must now determine when it will consider this appeal. “If he has an important file, it is this one”, judge Gervais Doutressoulle who considers the reasonable time between three and six months. In early 2016, a similar appeal was filed. It has not yet been examined. http://www.lamanchelibre.fr/amp-328703-manche-il-deposent-un-recours-devant-le-conseil-d-etat-contre-l-epr-de-flamanville.html
May 29, 2017
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The French experiment – and the shift from nuclear to renewables, REneweconomy, By Craig Morris on 26 May 2017 Energy Transition
France’s new President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his cabinet – to great acclaim. The direction of the country’s energy transition remains unclear, however. ……..
The appointment that has drawn the most attention seems to be the new Minister of Ecology and Solidarity – the new name for the old Ministry of Energy and the Environment headed by Ségolène Royal. The new focus indicates that social issues will be a priority when decisions about the energy transition are made.
The man who will direct the new ministry is Nicolas Hulot, who made a name for himself decades ago with a TV series on the environment …….
It will be interesting to see what “solidarity” means in the energy transition. For instance, concerning the closing of Fessenheim, France’s oldest nuclear plant, Hulot is quoted: “We cannot impose a transition by force. The transition has to be done in an acceptable manner.” This approach is similar to the way Germany is handling its coal phaseout: slowly in order not to detrimentally impact coal communities…..
It thus seems likely that an approach will be taken to pursue an energy transition towards renewables and away from nuclear, but possibly not at the speed that Hollande’s law specified. The slowdown would then be justified with solidarity. If so, this approach seems logical. As I have been saying for years, France has put most of its eggs in the nuclear basket and can hardly afford to shut very many reactors.
It’s not just communities with reactors that will be affected by a nuclear phaseout. Rather, last November EDF – the utility than runs all French reactors – bought up the effectively bankrupt Areva, the firm that built them. Both companies are largely state-owned. In January, the EU approved France’s plans to inject a whopping 4.5 billion euros in Areva to keep it afloat.
Whatever compromises he is forced to make, Hulot will easily bring more expertise to the table than the French have become accustomed to….. http://reneweconomy.com.au/french-experiment-shift-nuclear-renewables-75521/
May 27, 2017
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Kallanish Energy 23rd May 2017, EDF is secretly planning to extend the life of its 58 reactors in France by
10 to 20 years. EDF plans to delay targets in the 2015 energy plan to reduce the share of nuclear power from 75% to 50% by 2025 to 2050. http://www.kallanishenergy.com/2017/05/23/edf-eyes-lifespan-extension-of-french-fleet-of-10-20-years-bfm-tv/
Engineering & Technology 22nd May 2017 EDF, the French state-controlled power company, has denied media reports that it intends to delay plans to reduce the amount of nuclear power in France’s energy mix by 25 years. https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2017/05/edf-denies-it-wants-to-delay-nuclear-power-phase-out-in-france/
May 24, 2017
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http://reneweconomy.com.au/france-names-ex-greens-candidate-and-solar-advocate-as-energy-minister-16021/By Emiliano Bellini on 19 May 2017 PV Magazine Newly appointed energy minister Nicolas Hulot is a well-known journalist and environmentalist which has had a leading role in the French Green Party (Europe Écologie-Les Verts) in the past, and has always supported solar through his foundation.
Nicolas Hulot has been named new France’s new energy and environment minister in the cabinet led by the new prime minister Edouard Philippe. Hulot’s ministry, which under the previous government was named Ministry of Energy, Ecology and Sustainable Development (MEEM), has been renamed into Ministry of the Ecological and Solidarity-based Transition.
Hulot, who was a candidate in the primary of the Green Party (Europe Écologie-Les Verts) to the 2012 French presidential election, is a well-known journalist and environmentalist who became popular thanks to his documentary tv show “Ushuaïa Nature”, whose slogan is “wonder is the first step towards respect.”
He is also the president of the Fondation Nicolas-Hulot, an environmental organization created by him in 1990.
The new minister has always been a supporter of solar energy in the French political debate.
In 2011, after the French government introduced a moratorium on solar projects which paralyzed the sector for several years, Hulot’s foundation released a study containing a series of proposals on how to further develop PV, and on how to involve all of the country’s interested parties, including government, media, enterprises and associations, in the transition to a clean energy economy.
In a more recent study published in 2015, Hulot’s foundation said that solar must be deployed “at human scale” everywhere in the world, and that it must be adopted especially in countries with low access to electricity. As for PV in France, the foundation said that the country has the potential to install a further 20 GW and 25 GW in addition to the 5.8 GW installed at the time.
This, the reports stressed, can occur without putting pressure on the national grid. If achieved, the target proposed by Hulot’s foundation would enable the country to raise the share of solar in the country power mix from 1% to 8%.
As for the outgoing energy minister, Ségolène Royal, it must be acknowledged that she performed an extraordinary job for the solar sector.
Immediately after her appointment, she started several initiatives aimed at restoring investor confidence, a clear and stable regulatory framework, and a reasonable level of incentives. Under her mandate, solar saw its target by 2023 being tripled to 20.2 GW. Royal’s energy strategy also decided that nuclears share of the French energy mix should fall to 50% by 2025.
Note: Reuters reports that news of the appointment sent the share price of nuclear utility EDF down as much as seven per cent, as the appointment raised doubts in investors’ minds about the strength of Macron’s commitment to a pro-nuclear energy policy.
“There is a fear of a stricter ecological line given Hulot’s history as an environmental campaigner,” said Andrea Tueni, markets analyst with Saxo Bank. Hulot, who scores high in popularity polls, said he hoped the job would allow him to bring about change.
In an interview with Liberation newspaper last month, Hulot said one of France’s main challenges will be to reposition EDF on a path that is compatible with a transition from dependence on nuclear power towards the use of more renewables.
“As renewable energy becomes more and more competitive, the nuclear industry business model belongs to the past,” he said.
May 20, 2017
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EDF set to win EU approval for Areva nuclear reactor deal – source , Reuters, By Foo Yun Chee | BRUSSELS, 19 May 17, French utility EDF (EDF.PA) is set to gain unconditional approval from the EU competition authorities for its plan to acquire a controlling stake in ailing nuclear power engineering group Areva’s (AREVA.PA) reactor business, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.
State-controlled EDF wants to acquire 51 to 75 percent of Areva NP, which designs, manufactures and services nuclear reactors and is worth about 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion).
The deal is crucial for France, which has Europe’s largest network of nuclear plants, and uses EDF and Areva to spearhead its export efforts against competition from Russia’s Rosatom and Japan’s Hitachi Ltd (6501.T).
The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by May 29, declined to comment. EDF and Areva had no immediate comment….http://www.reuters.com/article/us-areva-m-a-edf-eu-idUSKCN18F23I
May 20, 2017
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