the key dates for EPR reactors around the world – L’Express

Here are the key dates for this mainly French technology:

– 1992: birth in France –

The EPR – for European Pressurized Reactor – was born in 1992 from a joint venture between the French group Framatome (which later became Areva) and the German Siemens. This new generation of nuclear power plant received the first official green light in France from Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin (right) in April 2004.

In October, the French public electricity supplier EDF selected the Norman nuclear site of Flamanville (north-west of France), which already has two reactors, to install a first EPR there. Start of construction on December 3, 2007.

– 2003: Finnish contract –

In December 2003, the Areva-Siemens consortium signed a contract with the Finnish electricity company TVO for the construction of an EPR on the Olkiluoto site in Pori (southwest of Finland) for 3 billion euros.

Work begins in September 2005.

– 2007: two reactors in China –

During a visit to China by French President Nicolas Sarkozy (right), Areva announced an agreement for the construction of two EPRs in Taishan (south of China) for a total of 8 billion euros. Work begins in November 2009.

– 2011: cold snap after Fukushima –

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan on March 11, 2011 led to the abandonment of nuclear energy in Germany. Siemens withdrew from the joint venture in September, leaving Areva alone in control of the EPRs.

The Japanese accident also led to the postponement of the British green light for EPRs and the freezing of an Indian project.

– 2015: tank and weld defects –

The French nuclear watchdog, ASN (Nuclear Safety Authority), alerted in April of an anomaly serious in the composition of the steel of the Flamanville EPR reactor vessel. In June, EDF revealed welding defects on the primary circuit.

These and other issues will result in significant additional costs and delays.

The final bill should exceed 13 billion euros, four times the amount initially mentioned, and 19 billion including additional financing costs according to the Court of Auditors.

– 2016: London green light –

In September, London approved the construction of two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset (southwest of England), for 18 billion pounds (21 billion euros), mainly to be paid for by EDF. At the start of 2024, a delay of two to four years was envisaged with an almost doubling of the initial bill.

– 2018: EDF swallows the atom –

At the start of 2018, EDF took over Areva's nuclear reactor branch as part of a rescue plan. The former French atomic flagship suffered from the setbacks of the Finnish EPR. TVO and Areva accuse each other of being responsible for the significant delays and additional costs of this reactor. Their dispute was resolved in March 2018.

– 2018: start-up in China –

On June 6, 2018, for the first time, an EPR started. This is Taishan's first reactor. Reactor number two on the same site begins operating in 2019.

Taishan 1 then accumulates problems: first shutdown in 2021 due to an increase in the concentration of rare gases, then new shutdown in 2023 due to a corrosion phenomenon.

– 2021: start in Finland –

12 years behind the original schedule, the Olkiluoto EPR in Finland starts on December 21, 2021. Its entry into commercial service takes place on April 16, 2023.

– 2022: six new EPRs in France –

In February 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the construction in France of six new generation EPR2 reactors, a simplified and optimized version of the EPR. EDF wants to build the first two EPR2s on the Penly site (western France).

– 2024: commissioning in France –

12 years late, the Flamanville EPR received the green light for its commissioning on May 7. Nuclear fuel loading was completed on May 15, and the reactor began operating on September 3 with the first nuclear fission in its core.

After a brief interruption in September, the reactor is experiencing a slow increase in power before its connection to the electricity network on Saturday December 21. Flamanville 3 is the first nuclear reactor to start up in France in 25 years.