French Nuclear Authority Gives Fessenheim Plant 10 More Years

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Europe (Galway, Ireland)--France's nuclear safety authority, Autorite De Surete Nucleaire (ASN) (Paris, France), has given a conditional ruling that the Fessenheim 1 nuclear reactor is fit to run for 10 more years, provided that operator Electricite de France (EPA:EDF) (EDF) (Paris, France) carries out specific safety enhancements.

The principal requirement set out by the regulator is the strengthening of the unit's concrete basemat, which must be completed by 30 June 2013. The 1.5-metre-thick basemat must be strengthened to make it more resistant to corium, which is a mixture of molten cladding, fuel and structural steel formed in the event of a serious accident involving the melting of fuel in the reactor. Corium could potentially break through the steel reactor pressure vessel. Another requirement is the installation of additional equipment to ensure heat evacuation in the event of a loss of cooling; this is to be completed before the end of 2012.

The ruling is one in a series of steps that will decide the fate of Fessenheim 1, France's oldest operating nuclear reactor. The unit will undergo safety stress tests later this year, which are to be carried out on all French nuclear plants. The ASN's decision must also be validated by the French government. Earlier this month, France's Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said the government would make a final decision on the plant's future this autumn.

Commenting on the decision, Andre-Claude Lacoste, the president of ASN, said: "The decision could be altered after a complementary safety stress test is carried out later this year. ...We may decide that the reactor can only continue to function with more security measures." Lacoste added that "EDF could decide that it is no longer financially worth their while to run the plant...it's up to them."

French law requires that the operator of a reactor performs a review of the level of safety at the unit every 10 years. This involves a compliance review, which ensures that the plant complies with applicable safety rules, and a security review. The review process also makes sure the plant incorporates the latest safety practices and sets new operating conditions for the unit, verifying that any phenomena associated with plant ageing will be manageable for a minimum of 10 years. Fessenheim 1's third 10-year inspection and maintenance outage took place between October 2009 and March 2010, during which the ASN carried out 12 inspections and supervised hydraulic tests to validate the plant's primary circuit.

The ASN is currently carrying out its 10-year maintenance on the plant's Reactor 2, which is expected to end around mid-September.

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