[Machine Translation] New delay in sight for Flamanville EPR. According to the Nuclear Safety Authority, “important technical work” remains to be done to correct the anomalies identified on certain welds. The “battle of the welds” probably did not finish to delay the construction of the EPR of Flamanville (Channel). In a note sent to EDF and made public on 3 October, the president of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) has severely reframed the public electrician, worrying about a “monitoring failure” on the Normandy nuclear site . “It’s the whole chain of surveillance that has malfunctioned,” says ASN. Pierre-Franck Chevet also indicated that “important technical work remains to be done” to correct anomalies identified on certain welds. To understand the vivacity of the reaction of the nuclear policeman, we must return to the origin of the case. In February, EDF discovered problems on 38 secondary circuit welds. This water circuit serves to evacuate the steam towards the turbine. It consists of four loops, associated with four steam generators. At first, the group explains that these pipes comply with the regulations but that they should have corresponded to the “high quality” standard, which is more demanding. Specifically, EDF had defined this new standard for the construction of the EPR and was unable to enforce it by its own subcontractors. And things got complicated a few weeks later. The extensive examination of the welds reveals that a large part of them do not comply with the standard required by EDF, or even the regulations required for pressurized nuclear equipment. Result: the group has to take back fifty-three welds, knowing that a single weld represents at least eight additional weeks of work.
Le Monde 11th Oct 2018 read more »
On 9 October 2018, ASN authorized the commissioning and use of the Flamanville EPR reactor vessel , subject to the implementation of a thermal aging monitoring test program on the steel of the zone of residual positive residual segregation of carbon, and specific controls during the operation of the installation. The feasibility of these last controls not being acquired for the lid in the current state of knowledge, the ASN limited at the end of 2024 the use of the current lid. This authorization is based on the conclusions of the ASN opinion of 10 October 2017 on the anomaly of the chemical composition of the steel of the lid and the bottom of the Flamanville EPR reactor vessel, as well as on the additional elements transmitted by Framatome in its application for authorization of July 13, 2018. The instruction of these additional elements by ASN did not lead to calling into question the conclusions of the 2017 opinion. In addition, ASN verified compliance with technical and regulatory requirements other than those relating to chemical composition of the steel of the lid and bottom of the tank.
ASN 10th Oct 2018 read more »
French nuclear regulator ASN said on 10 October 2018 that it had authorised state-controlled utility and nuclear operator EDF to commission and use the reactor pressure vessel in the Flamanville-3 EPR nuclear reactor under certain conditions.
Nucnet 11th Oct 2018 read more »