Serious safety faults found in new French nuclear plants

Paris: Nuclear safety inspectors have found crucial faults in the cooling system of France’s flagship new-generation nuclear power plant being built on the Channel coast, exposing it to the risk of meltdown.

The third-generation European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) currently under construction in Flamanville is the same model that Britain plans to use for two new plants at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

State-controlled nuclear giant Areva is responsible for the design and construction. France’s nuclear safety watchdog found “multiple” malfunctioning valves in the Flamanville EPR that could cause its meltdown, in a similar scenario to the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the US. The inspectors listed the faults in a damning presentation obtained by Mediapart, the investigative French website. Just last month it was revealed that the power plant’s steel reactor vessel has “very serious anomalies” that raise the risk of it cracking. The vessel houses the plant’s nuclear fuel and confines its radioactivity. The latest findings were listed in a presentation by the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) to France’s top nuclear safety regulator (ASN).

The watchdog reportedly cited “multiple failure modes” that could have “grave consequences” on the safety relief valves, which play a key role in regulating pressure in the reactor. Owned by state-controlled French utilities giant Electricite de France (EDF), Flamanville lies close to the Channel Islands and about 241km from the south coast of England. Designed to be the safest reactors in the world and among the most energy-efficient, the €9 billion (Dh37 billion) EPR has suffered significant construction delays in France, Finland and China. It is now due to enter service in 2017, five years later than originally planned. In April, it was revealed that excessive amounts of carbon in the steel in the top and bottom of the reactor’s vessel, which forms a shell around it, could cause cracks that could prove disastrous, as the vessel cannot be replaced during the lifespan of the reactor. The failure of a relief valve in the was a key factor in the partial meltdown of a reactor at the Three Mile Island plant, which led to the halting of America’s civil nuclear power programme. In that accident, nuclear reactor coolant escaped through a valve that was stuck open, sending the reactor into partial meltdown.

At Flamanville, IRSN noted “opening” and “closing” failures concerning the pilots that operate the safety valves and “risks of fluid leaks” of the reactor coolant. It warned that the multiple faults could have “grave consequences”. Yesterday, IRSN confirmed tests conducted by EDF showed “difficulties in opening and shutting valves”. But it played down the gravity of the findings, saying: “For now, one cannot conclude it is serious as we haven’t fully judged the quality “of the valves” — a view it will announce this summer. EDF is in the final phase of negotiations with the British government on building the two Hinkley plants in Britain.