After having experienced a “automatic shutdown” On Wednesday, the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) in Flamanville (Manche) restarted, on Saturday, September 7, allowing it to resume the slow process of ramping up to electricity production.
“The Flamanville 3 reactor has been diverged and stabilized at 0.2% power since 8:21 a.m.”a spokesperson for the group told Agence France-Presse (AFP). « divergence » is the technical term for nuclear reaction. “The teams are resuming the activities and tests necessary to prepare for the coupling”or the connection to the electrical network, “which will take place by the end of autumn”the spokesperson also said.
The EPR, the subject of a construction site with numerous delays, had reached an important milestone on Tuesday with the achievement of the first nuclear fission. But several stages and a gradual increase in power are still planned before it can really supply the network with electricity, with potential technical hazards.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Flamanville EPR starts twelve years late
Add to your selections
He had experienced a Wednesday “automatic shutdown” the day after its start. “The event is linked to an incorrect configuration of the installation during the tests carried out after the divergence, which generated alarms and triggered the automatic order to shut down the reactor. The situation is not linked to a hardware problem with the installation, nor to the control of the nuclear reaction.”detailed the teams from Electricité de France (EDF) on Saturday.
The Nuclear Safety Authority, for its part, explained to AFP that the shutdown was the result of a “human error” in the configuration of electronic systems, the operating mode not having “not been strictly adhered to”. It is not “not a material anomaly”added Karine Herviou, deputy director general of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety. “This is something that is quite common and shows that the protection system is doing its job well, because as soon as something has not been done correctly, the system stops.”she explained to AFP.
“A complex industrial process”
The start-up of this reactor is twelve years behind schedule due to numerous technical problems which have increased the bill, now estimated at 13.2 billion euros by EDF, four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.
“The start-up of the EPR is a long and complex process (…). The activation of other automatic shutdowns and the encounter of hazards remain probable until the reactor reaches full power”according to EDF. “It’s a complex industrial process, so there will inevitably be some problems, it’s inevitable. So, not all of them will lead to the automatic shutdown of the reactor, but it can happen.”stressed Mr.me Herviou, recalling that “EDF has not started a reactor for twenty-five years”.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers How is the start-up of the Flamanville EPR, which has just begun, going?
Add to your selections
The reactor’s startup on Tuesday marks the beginning of its ramp-up in stages. It will need to reach 25% power to be connected to the electricity grid – a milestone now expected by the end of the fall, while EDF had initially hoped to reach it by the end of the summer.
The EPR, a new-generation pressurized water reactor, is the fourth of its type to be installed in the world, the 57e reactor in the French nuclear fleet, and the most powerful in the country (1,600 MW). In the long term, it should supply electricity to around two million homes.
Newsletter
“Human warmth”
How to face the climate challenge? Every week, our best articles on the subject
Register
In France, President Emmanuel Macron has decided to relaunch nuclear power, by ordering six EPR2 reactors – a version “optimized” of the EPR – and eight additional ones as an option.
