France: Still problems with the nuclear power plants – Economy

Things looked pretty good for a short time in early December. French Economics Minister Bruno Le Maire visited the Penly nuclear power plant in Normandy, and the trip delivered pretty pictures: Le Maire arm in arm with the new boss of the French energy company EDF, Luc Rémont, both in blue and orange EDF jackets, with the cliffs in the background of the Atlantic. The night before Le Maire’s visit, three reactors that had previously been shut down had been reconnected to the grid. For a moment, EDF and its troubled nuclear park appeared to be on the mend.

In the summer, more than half of France’s 56 nuclear reactors were out of action for weeks. In the fall, French government officials in turtlenecks and down jackets called for energy savings and warned that, in the worst case, there could be power cuts in winter. Electricity prices went through the roof, and a debate broke out in Germany about longer running times for the remaining three German nuclear power plants – also because of the situation in France. Then some reactors there went back online. Economics Minister Le Maire was optimistic in Penly: “We’re on the right track,” he said there. “Let’s stop talking about the disaster all the time.”

The optimism didn’t last long. Only a few days after Le Maire’s visit, the EDF announced bad news again: In the Penly 1 reactor there is evidence of new corrosion damage in a section of a pipeline. Because the relevant section has to be replaced, the reactor is scheduled to go online again at the end of March instead of at the end of January. The restart of the Penly 2 reactor has delayed the EDF even further, from late January to mid-June. The reason for this are “preventive repairs” that the EDF wants to carry out in response to the corrosion damage.

It’s been like this for months now. Ironically, in the year in which Russia attacks the Ukraine and the Siberian gas flow breaks off, French nuclear power plants are also failing in droves. First of all, the low water levels in many rivers were to blame, because they supply the reactors with cooling water. Then there was a maintenance backlog caused by the pandemic. And finally, fine cracks appeared in some systems, apparently caused by corrosion. The German Ministry of the Environment says that the developments are being followed “very closely”.

By 2025, EDF wants to have checked all the reactors

The biggest problem of the French power plant park are apparently welds. It first appeared in Unit 1 of the Civaux reactor in south-west France in 2021 – the steel alloy was corroded near welds, a “intergranular stress corrosion”. According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, such damage is “of considerable safety significance”. Even more: After tests in other plants, comparable damage was found. The Chooz 1 and 2 reactors, which are identical in construction, are also off the grid – all belong to the N4 series. They are the most powerful reactors in France. Only time will tell if other series are similarly affected. By 2025, EDF wants to have checked all the reactors.

According to the EDF, the Flamanville 1 reactor in Normandy is still waiting for the results of the weld inspection – the restart is therefore being postponed from the end of December to mid-February. There are also delays in Block 2 of the Civaux nuclear power plant. As the EDF announced, the block should not go online again until the end of February instead of mid-January. There, the comprehensive inspection that the EDF carries out on all French reactors every ten years has not yet been completed.

“Because the political pressure was so high, the dates that the EDF made were very optimistic from the start,” says energy expert Yves Marignac from the Négawatt think tank, which is committed to the expansion of renewable energies. “It is not surprising that the restarts are now being delayed.”

In September, EDF and the French government promised that all reactors that had been shut down at the time would be back online by mid-February. It doesn’t look like that at the moment. About a quarter of France’s 56 reactors are still out of order. Partly for maintenance work, partly, as in Civaux in western France, because the reactors have to be checked and repaired because of corrosion damage or suspected corrosion.

Of the 61 gigawatts that all French nuclear power plants can produce at full capacity, about two-thirds are currently available: 43 gigawatts. That is at least more than last summer, when the proportion was at times less than half. This also relaxes Germany’s view of France. In September, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke of a maximum of 45 gigawatts that would be available in France in January – and thus also justified the possible “extended operation” of German nuclear power plants until spring. The Ministry of Economic Affairs now assumes that the 45 gigawatts could even be exceeded. According to the ministry, security of supply is guaranteed and adds: “We are monitoring the situation closely.”

About a third of French households heat with electricity

The French government now considers it unlikely that there will be power shortages this winter. French government spokesman Olivier Véran said last week that the risk of targeted power cuts is decreasing. This is not only due to the fact that some reactors have been connected to the grid again in recent weeks – but also because the electricity consumption of the French has fallen. About a third of French households heat with electricity, and given the mild temperatures, demand is not that high at the moment.

“The risk of targeted shutdowns is lower today than in December, but it remains,” says energy expert Yves Marignac. Because the planning of the EDF has little leeway. “If there is just one unforeseen problem in a power plant, everything can suddenly look different again.”

What worries Marignac even more is the coming winter. Then it will be even more difficult than last year to fill up the gas storage facilities, he says. In addition, EDF has already announced that six more nuclear reactors are to be taken off the grid and repaired in the summer due to suspected corrosion damage. Whether they will be operational again by winter is uncertain.

An additional problem is one that has occupied the French nuclear industry for a long time: in Flamanville in Normandy, the commissioning of the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) has again been delayed. Actually, the reactor of this new type should have been connected to the grid in 2012, the start was last planned for 2023.

As EDF announced in December, the EPR is not to be put into operation until spring 2024. The main reason for this is additional testing of the weld seams. The costs of the EPR, which had already more than tripled compared to the original estimates, are also expected to increase by another 500 million euros. The 1.7 gigawatts of power that the EPR is supposed to produce will not be available to France either this winter or next.

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