The numerous setbacks that have affected the EPR construction site have caused the bill to explode, now estimated at 13.2 billion euros by EDF, four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.
The EPR nuclear reactor in Flamanville is finally waking up: after a 12-year delay, the process leading to the first nuclear fission chain reaction has begun, announced the French energy company EDF on the night of Monday to Tuesday, shortly after announcing that it would be necessary to wait three more months to see its new reactor supplying power to the electricity grid.
“The divergence phase has begun. This operation will make the reactor core beat for the first time,” EDF announced in a video published on X, specifying that “the divergence initiates the nuclear fission chain reaction.”
Following the issue of the Flamanville EPR divergence authorization by the Nuclear Safety Authority (@ASN), EDF teams are preparing to make the reactor heart beat for the first time \ud83d\udc97 \u2935\ufe0f@EDFEPR #Nuclear #DLDNov
— EDF (@EDFofficial) https://twitter.com/EDFofficiel/status/1830677271180636407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The electricity group had earlier indicated that it had received the green light from the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) in France to start production of the first electrons for the EPR (European Pressurized Reactor).
But the “coupling”, or the operations of connection to the network which will allow French homes to benefit from the energy of the most powerful reactor (1,600 MW), the 57th in the park, will have to wait.
Connected to the network “by the end of autumn”
“A test program to reach a power level of 25% will be implemented”, a stage during which the EPR “will be connected to the national electricity grid for the first time and will then produce electricity”, a deadline “planned for the end of autumn 2024”, the group specified in a press release.
“To go to the coupling, we are talking about the end of autumn, because ahead of us, we have a fairly substantial programme of tests”, Régis Clément, deputy director of the nuclear production division of the French group, previously indicated to the press, who announced a rise “by successive stages”, before the nuclear core can “show its credentials”.
EDF CEO Luc Rémont had announced that the divergence, a major step in the reactor start-up operations, was “imminent” at the beginning of July. If it only began on Monday, it is because the teams in Flamanville (north-west France) encountered “setbacks”, which led to “a certain number of additional operations” being carried out during the summer, according to Mr Clément.
As for full power, previously announced for the end of the year, it will take “several months”, according to Mr. Clément, who did not give a new date.
Production up sharply
Although the French industrial flagship has nevertheless obtained the “go” from the ASN to launch operations and take a new crucial step, this is yet another setback for a project that is already 12 years behind schedule for this new pressurized water reactor, the 4th of this type installed in the world.
While French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to relaunch nuclear power, by ordering six EPR2 reactors (and eight additional ones as an option) from the energy company, the start-up of the Flamanville EPR, even though it was decided well before, has a highly symbolic dimension.
In addition to the ASN authorisation, the other good news came from the existing fleet: EDF has significantly revised upwards its estimate of nuclear production for the year 2024, now between 340 and 360 TWh, compared to a range of 315 to 345 TWh initially planned, an increase not including the Flamanville EPR.
“The other 56 reactors are performing better than what we had integrated,” said Mr. Clément, so much so that the production of “the EPR will come in addition.”
“The + corrosion + file was less sensitive than expected,” he added. “This revision of the nuclear production estimate for 2024 is based on the improvement in the performance of unit shutdowns, industrial control of inspections and repair sites related to the stress corrosion file, and the absence of major climatic hazards during the summer,” according to the EDF press release.
The numerous setbacks that have affected the EPR construction site (cracks in the concrete of the slab, anomalies in the steel of the tank, and welding defects on the crossings of the containment building) have caused the bill to explode, now estimated at 13.2 billion euros by EDF, four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.
19 billion
In 2020, the Court of Auditors estimated it at 19 billion, including in particular the “additional financing costs”.
Despite the difficulties of EDF’s first EPRs, in China and Finland, and the delays of its English programs, the group is in discussions with the Netherlands, Slovenia, Poland, Finland and Sweden, at a time when nuclear power is regaining popularity, thanks to the climate imperative to move away from fossil fuels and greater independence from Russia, the largest exporter of power plants.
In the Czech Republic, EDF and the American company Westinghouse contested at the end of August the tender procedure won by the Korean company KHNP for the construction of new nuclear reactors.
