The European pressurized reactor (EPR) in Flamanville (Manche) experienced a “automatic shutdown” the day after its start. The Electricité de France (EDF) teams are currently carrying out technical checks and analyses before being able to restart “reactor divergence” – that is, the nuclear reaction –, announced the energy company.
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“This morning the reactor shut down automatically”a spokeswoman for the group told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The teams are carrying out the necessary technical checks and analyses, following the usual procedures, and then they will restart the reactor divergence.”she added, assuring that “Starting up is a long and complex process [qui] “It requires a lot of testing, trials, and it can lead to these types of shutdowns. It proves that the safety system is working well.” “According to the first elements of the technical diagnosis, this shutdown could be linked to an inappropriate configuration of the installation,” she said again. That “would have led to the automatic shutdown of the reactor in accordance with the design mechanism”she explained.
Nicolas Goldberg, energy expert at Colombus Consulting, explains that“We have to expect this type of hazard. It is a very complex industrial process start-up and it is therefore common to encounter them.” The expert stressed to AFP that “On the Finnish EPR, there were several setbacks, notably with hydraulic pumps which were defective and had to be replaced”. “This does not call into question the start. We just have to be patient.”he noted.
The first nuclear reaction took place on Tuesday, September 3
After loading the uranium rods into the reactor core in May, EDF has conducted a series of cold and hot tests in recent months, which resulted on Monday in obtaining the green light from the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) to launch the first nuclear fission reaction in this new-generation nuclear reactor.
This took place on Tuesday, marking the beginning of its ramp-up in successive stages. It must reach 25% power to be connected to the electricity grid, which must happen “by the end of fall”according to EDF. The energy company had hoped to reach this stage by the end of the summer, i.e. by September 21 at the latest, but the group is now counting on the end of autumn at the latest.
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The start-up of the Flamanville EPR is twelve years behind schedule due to numerous technical setbacks and mishaps which have also caused the bill to explode, now estimated at 13.2 billion euros by EDF, four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.
The Flamanville EPR, a new-generation pressurized water reactor, is the fourth of its type installed in the world, the 57th reactor in the French nuclear fleet, and the most powerful in the country (1,600 megawatts). In the long term, it should supply electricity to around three million homes.
