The French electricity company Electricité de France will shut down three additional nuclear reactors to verify the presence of possible corrosion problems, a development that is bad news in a tense situation of electricity supply this winter.
As French President Emmanuel Macron prepares to make announcements about the much-anticipated nuclear power industry, the Chinon 3, Cattenom 3 and Bugey 4 reactors will shut down in the coming months, according to data published on the EDF website. .
These holidays are scheduled for February 19th, March 26th and April 9th.
“We will stop their operation to carry out inspections,” a spokesman for AFP explained.
These inspections are carried out after a documented review of the entire park, corrosion problems in security systems have already been confirmed or there are suspicions that they are observed in five reactors, which are currently out of operation (a total of 56).
In addition, the other three will also be tested when they are shut down, as already planned. However, Flanmville 2 will be discontinued by 5 weeks.
Finally, EDF extended for five months the shutdown of the two units where these corrosion problems were identified (Penly 1) or suspected (Chooz 1). The first will not run until October 31st and the second until December 31st.
EDF therefore cut its forecast for nuclear power this year on Monday night, “as part of the nuclear park control program”, but did not provide details about the plants.
The forecast was reduced to 295-315 terawatt hours (TWh), from 300-330 TWh previously. EDF had already revised its forecast down to mid-January, when it initially targeted production of 330 to 360 TWh. For 2023, “the estimate of nuclear production, currently at 340-370 TWh, will be adjusted as soon as possible,” the EDF said.
– There will be no “black-out” –
These problems are likely to increase pressure on electricity supplies to France this winter, which is already complicated by a busy maintenance program disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
RTE utility operator said on Friday – before the latest EDF announcements – that it was “on alert for the end of winter” due to the large number of non-functioning nuclear reactors, noting that “the the weather forecast for the period is favorable “.
“We are at a risk that is under control. However, we must say that the availability of the power park during this winter is generally extremely limited,” said Thomas Veirank, RTE’s director of strategy and prospects.
“There is no risk of a blackout in France because we have put in place a number of mechanisms to avoid it,” Ecological Transition Minister Barbara Pompoli told France Info today.
In particular, the government has temporarily relaxed the use limits of its latest coal-fired power plants, which are very harmful to the climate, to ensure electricity supply. estimated Pombili.
The latest EDF troubles, added to the new EPR delays in Flamingville (Channel), are being recorded as Macron is expected in Belfort on Thursday for a visit focusing on nuclear energy.
The city produces nuclear turbines at its Alstom plant, which was acquired in 2015 by US General Electric (GE) and is now being considered by EDF.
In November, President Macron announced his intention to build new reactors in France, but did not provide further details. The industry, which is proposing the construction of six new European Pressure Water Reactors (EPR), is hoping for announcements in this direction, while this issue is disturbing the election campaign.
Nuclear power advantage for the climate or the argument for energy independence is widely attracted from the far right to the communist Fabien Russell, the right and the presidential camp.
Environmentalists, on the other hand, argue for a more or less rapid exit from this energy, which still dominates much of France’s electricity generation due to the problem of waste or the risk of accidents.
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