EDF Announces 20% Cost Increase for Flamanville 3 Pressurized Water Reactor

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Electricite de France (EPA:EDF) (Paris) has confirmed that the total investment cost to build a reactor at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Station in France will be $5.6 billion instead of the initial $4 billion. The station is equipped with two 1,330-megawatt (MW) Alstom (EPA:ALO) (Levallois-Perret, France) steam turbines and a new third-generation reactor currently under construction. For related information, view November 11, 2008, news article - EDF Continues Construction of New Nuclear Reactor at Flamanville Power Plant.

The new European pressurized reactor (EPR), the second in the world after the one being built in Finland, will increase Flamanville's electrical output to 4,410 MW. Given the general increase in prices during 2008, EDF will have to pay 20% more for commissioning.

On one hand, EDF faced several constraints from the French Authority of Nuclear Security after some irregularities were found in the assembly of the steel structure. This caused a two-month delay after concrete work was suspended in May 2008.

Vinci Construction was unable to comply with the well-digging schedule for the disposal of the cooling water, and announced a change in the construction technique of the sub-marine gallery. Therefore, EDF is obliged to resume the public legal procedure regarding the installations located in the public marine area, which could take about a year. Nevertheless, EDF still maintains that Flamanville 3, the first EPR to be operated in France, will be commissioned in 2012 as scheduled, although the price of megawatt per hour produced by the new reactor could reach $74, about $10 more than initially expected.

EDF produces more than 80% of the power delivered to the French grid from nuclear power stations and plans to build a second third-generation reactor in Flamanville several years after the first one is commissioned.

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