First, a crack near a weld in a pipe in the safety injection system was found in reactor one at Penly, which the French Nuclear Safety Agency (ASN) reported on Tuesday. According to the electricity company EDF, the problem also affected the nuclear power plants at Cattenom, Civaux, Chooz B and other reactors at the Penly plant.
It was, therefore, a crack 15.5 centimeters long, which corresponds to a quarter of the diameter of the line. It is also 23 millimeters deep with a tube thickness of 27 millimeters. “It’s not a crack … it’s a problem,” agency head Bernard Doroszczuk told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Classified as an incident
“Due to the possible consequences and the increased probability of rupture”, the authority classified the rupture as a level two accident on the INES scale for evaluating nuclear events. This does not put people or the environment at risk. Level two incidents are relatively rare, there was only one last year.
The reactor is currently shut down. It should be increased again in May. “The crack appeared in a place where you didn’t expect it,” nuclear expert Yves Marignac told AFP. It is a line in the emergency refrigeration system through which heated water is routed in an emergency.
“almost leaking”
So far, EDF has mostly checked the lines of the emergency cooling system, through which cold water would be fed, Marignac said. The extent of the crack is concerning. “It’s almost a leak,” he said.
According to the Nuclear Safety Authority, the crack is due to an error in the construction of the nuclear power plant. “The lines were bent to be welded, then the welds failed and were repaired again,” explained Doroszczuk. This is an “unacceptable course of action”.
Since late 2021, hairline cracks up to six millimeters deep have appeared in pipelines at several newer nuclear power plants in France. EDF withdrew part of the reactors from the network for necessary repairs. Repairs were delayed because France lacked the necessary specialists. All 56 reactors are to be examined for possible corrosion damage. EDF announced late last year that it had overcome the corrosion damage crisis.
More cracks in other reactors
On Friday, EDF informed the agency of two other gaps related to the problem that were discovered during inspections. An ASN spokeswoman said on Friday that the Cattenom plant on the Moselle, close to the German border, and a reactor block at the Penly nuclear power plant in the English Channel were affected. The corresponding pipelines have already been replaced. The problems would have no impact on personnel or the environment.
Portal/Pascal Rossignol Cracks in pipes were also discovered at the Cattenom nuclear power plant, close to the border with Germany, on Friday
Longer shutdowns for controls
It is expected that due to wear and tear, other plants will have to be shut down for longer periods for inspections. Last year, corrosion problems caused several nuclear power plants in France to shut down, some of which were aging, and forced the country in the midst of an energy crisis to import more electricity, including from Germany.
Starting this year, EDF will submit all power plants to an inspection. ASN has now asked EDF to revise its strategy to take into account the newly identified issues.
New power plants in planning
The construction of 14 new plants is being considered by 2050. At the same time, however, renewable energies, especially offshore wind farms, must be expanded. “Initially, there are six reactors, eight more are being considered,” Agnes Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Energy Transition, told the business newspaper “Les Echos” in early March.
“But I asked the industry a very clear question: Can you go beyond 14 reactors by 2050?” She cited climate protection as a rationale. “Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 requires us to produce much more electricity.”
Industry must first answer the question of how many power plants could be built by when. “Our energy matrix must take into account reality, both scientific and industrial. It should not be based on simple ideologies”, said the minister.
Service life of old nuclear power plants must be extended
The energy company EDF, which is about to be completely renationalised, is expected to produce more nuclear energy, the minister said. You have tasked EDF with examining whether the performance of existing nuclear power plants can be improved. The controls of the plants that are currently being carried out aim to extend the useful life from 40 to 50 years. “But we have to work on the next step, the transition from 50 to 60.”
France is the world’s second largest nuclear power producer after the US and currently has 56 plants. Parliament is currently debating a law aimed at speeding up the construction of new nuclear power plants. 2027 should be the beginning of the construction of the first new furnace.