“EDF is struggling to sleep off its nuclear power”. Here is the title at the top of page 3 of the Chained Duck of this Wednesday, January 19, 2022. Is this a new article following the announcement, a week ago, of a delay and an additional cost of 300 million euros for the site of the future Flamanville EPR reactor? No, there is no question of welding rework operations taking longer than expected. “The energy company must face a formidable puzzle encountered on the reactor vessel, where nuclear fission takes place”, announces from the outset journalist Hervé Liffran. The concern was flushed out followingan incident on the other side of the world, in China. The Taishan nuclear power plant, with the world’s first EPR reactor in service, was shut down on July 30, 2021, after damaged fuel rods caused a buildup of radioactive noble gases in the reactor’s primary circuit. In November, we learned thata fault in the design of the tank would be the cause of the problem. It was a whistleblower working in the nuclear industry who informed, on condition of anonymity, the Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity (Criirad), which in turn alerted the Authority. Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) by post. And the shutdown of the plant was ordered “because of the presence of numerous and dangerous debris in the water of the primary circuit bathing the heart of the reactor”. Questioned this Wednesday on this subject, the Deputy Director General of the Nuclear Safety Authority, Julien Collet, replied: “ASN has asked EDF to take account of experience feedback from this event at EPR Taishan 1 prior to the commissioning of the Flamanville EPR reactor. EDF will either have to demonstrate that the Flamanville EPR is not concerned, or propose measures to prevent fuel degradation.
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