The schedule should be able to be maintained.
The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) judged, on Wednesday, "acceptable" the solution proposed by EDF to repair the latest problem on the site of the EPR reactor in Flamanville (Manche), that of the so-called "branching" welds. .
The nuclear gendarme explains that he is not opposed to the installation of a retaining collar on these pipe connections suffering from a "design deviation", thus preventing EDF from more complex repairs which would have threatened the start-up of this reactor. generation planned for the end of 2022, after already ten years of delay.
ASN wants more details
ASN "considers that the solution proposed by EDF is acceptable in principle" but "will give a final decision when EDF has provided the expected elements concerning the demonstration of the efficiency of the device, the design, manufacturing and operating requirements. applicable to the collars and the quality of the implantation welds around which these collars will be mounted, ”she said in a note.
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“We have no objection in principle to the proposed solution, but EDF still has to finalize the design of this solution and ask ASN on the basis of a technical file so that we can can conclude definitively, ”Julien Collet, ASN Deputy Director General, told AFP.
Last March, the Safety Authority made public a design deviation reported by EDF concerning three taps of the main primary circuit of the EPR under construction.
The tapping corresponds to the part of a pipe which connects it to another.
A solution that avoids increasing the delay
There were three options: consolidate the nozzles with retaining collars, cut and replace the sections in question, or finally repair the welds.
Only the first, which was favored by EDF, made it possible to meet the schedule, which has already experienced significant delays.
"EDF does not mention the need to review its schedule for the implementation of this device" collar, while the other solutions would have taken "several years", believes Julien Collet.
The Flamanville EPR, whose construction began in December 2007, was initially due to be put into service in 2012, but its site was affected by many setbacks and additional costs.
France plans to build six additional EPRs but has not made a decision yet.
