Oldest French Nuclear Plant Gets 10 More Years

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The second reactor at France's oldest nuclear power plant has been given the green light to operate for another 10 years by the country's nuclear safety authority, Autorite De Surete Nucleaire (ASN) (Paris, France).

The decision to grant the 10-year lifetime extension for Reactor 2 at the Fessenheim nuclear plant comes with a number of conditions that must be met by owner, Electricite de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) (EDF) (Paris, France), which owns and operates 58 reactors in the country. France relies on nuclear power for more than 75% of its electricity needs.

"In the light of the results of the third ten-yearly periodic safety review of Fessenheim reactor n°2 and the inspections carried out by its personnel, ASN considers that the licensee must comply with new requirements," the ASN stated. "Having set these requirements, ASN has no objection to the continued operation of Fessenheim reactor n°2 following its third 10-yearly periodic safety review."

In January, the ASN said it would likely grant a 10-year lifetime extension to Fessenheim's older Reactor 1, as long as EDF complied with the 40 requirements it laid down. For additional information, see January 7, 2013, article - French Nuclear Plant Closer to 10-year Extension.

The ASN said that, like its requirement for Reactor 1, the safety of Reactor 2 will have to be reinforced by increasing the ability of its basemat to withstand corium in the event of "a severe accident with reactor vessel melt-down", plus the addition of an emergency water cooling back-up system. Due to their similar design, many of the requirements made for Reactor 1 will also apply to Reactor 2. Fessenheim was commissioned in 1977 and each reactor has a generating capacity of 900-megawatts (MW).

Despite the approval of the ASN, the future of Fessenheim remains uncertain. France's President Francois Hollande has promised close Fessenheim by 2016, as part of his election promises to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear power. Hollande wants to reduce the proportion of nuclear power in the electricity mix from 75% to 50%, by closing 24 plants in the next 13 years.

France is currently having a national energy debate, with a new energy bill expected to be revealed next month.

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