French Nuclear Watchdog Criticises Flamanville Nuclear Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Doubts over the final quality of EDF's troubled €6 billion ($8.6 billion) Flamanville 3 nuclear power plant have been raised by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN).

The ASN has told owner and operator of the project, Electricite de France (EPA:EDF) (Paris), that its inspectors had noted 13 issues relating to what it called 'gaps', 'weaknesses' and 'inconsistencies' with the construction of the plant. It has told the company that it will have to "make substantial efforts to demonstrate the final quality of construction."

"The main weaknesses identified by the inspectors' focus on the filters in the reserve pool of borated water in the event of an accident, on speed limiters (Venturis DN500) fuel system of the steam generators and the batteries in the safety injection system (RIS) for loss of the cooling system," wrote Jean-Luc Lachaume, deputy general manager of the ASN. "ASN asked EDF that no irreversible action is commenced before the manufacturing quality of these materials has been demonstrated."

This is another blow to the 1,650-megawatt (MW) Flamanville project which is the first nuclear power plant to be built in France for 15 years and it is also the showcase for the new third generation, European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), developed by Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France). Just last month, EDF admitted that the completion date for the project had to be extended again by two years, until 2016, and that project costs would rise to €6 billion ($8.6 billion), almost double the original estimate of €3.3 billion ($4.7 billion). Flamanville 3 was originally due to go live next year. For additional information, see July 25, 2011, article - French Nuclear Project Delayed Until 2016.

EDF has attributed delays at the plant to fatalities on the site, construction issues and increased safety checks following the disaster at the Japanese nuclear plant in Fukushima, earlier this year.

The new EPR reactor is also being installed at the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant project in Finland, which has also been plagued by problems since it began. That project was due to go live in 2009 but now looks unlikely to be commissioned until 2012 at the earliest, while project costs have also run over by billions of euro. For additional information, see April 21, 2010, article - Delays Strike Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant--Again.

EDF has plans to use the EPR reactor for its rollout of new nuclear power plants in the U.K.

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