Concern is mounting within the government. The Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili on Friday asked EDF to take measures to improve the security of electricity supply, after the shutdown of several nuclear reactors, raising fears of tensions this winter.
In a press release issued by the Minister, it is indicated that EDF has been asked to act “to strengthen the security of supply in the short term, as well as to conduct an independent audit on industrial control and optimization of reactor outages, in order to increase the availability of the French nuclear fleet in the medium term ”.
A winter under “particular vigilance”
EDF announced on Wednesday evening that it had decided to shut down the two nuclear reactors at Chooz (Ardennes) “as a precautionary measure”, and to extend the shutdown of the two reactors at the Civaux (Vienne) plant, after the detection of faults at Proximity of welds in the pipes of the safety injection circuit of the latter.
Even before the revelation of these problems, the operator of the electricity network RTE predicted a winter under “particular vigilance” in terms of supply security for France, which almost 70% depends on nuclear power to produce its electricity, the health crisis affecting the maintenance schedule.
A demanded audit
RTE estimated on Friday that the security of supply was “well assured next week” and must update its forecasts for January towards the end of the year. Barbara Pompili, who received EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy on Friday, asked him “to implement all relevant means to increase the availability of EDF production resources and also seek to promote the flexibility of its consumer customers ”.
“She also asked the company to conduct an independent audit on the industrial control of reactor outages”, with a progress report expected before mid-March, the ministry said. The government had already regretted the stopping of 30% of the French nuclear fleet at the end of November. The Minister of Industry Agnès Pannier-Runacher had suggested to “raise our level of requirement for the availability of the park”, believing that “we can collectively do better”.