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Nuclear incident at the Taishan EPR in China: the cause identified

2021-11-28T09:11:55.573Z


An independent commission relies on a whistleblower to evoke a design flaw in the reactor vessel. The incident which led in July to the shutdown of a reactor at the EPR nuclear power plant in Taishan (China) is believed to be due to a design flaw in the vessel. This is what CRIIRAD (Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity) said on Saturday. It warns against the risk of an identical problem on other EPRs, pressurized reactors. Association created in the aftermath o


The incident which led in July to the shutdown of a reactor at the EPR nuclear power plant in Taishan (China) is believed to be due to a design flaw in the vessel.

This is what CRIIRAD (Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity) said on Saturday.

It warns against the risk of an identical problem on other EPRs, pressurized reactors.

Association created in the aftermath of the Ukrainian Chernobyl reactor disaster in 1986, CRIIRAD wrote on Saturday to the management of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) to share this information which it said it had from a "launcher. alert ”. "This is a French person who works in the nuclear industry, having access to very precise technical information on the situation of the Taishan 1 reactor core," said Bruno Chareyron, director of the CRIIRAD laboratory.

The Chinese operator CGN, main operator of the plant (70% of the shares) with EDF (30%), announced on July 1 to “shut down for maintenance” reactor 1 of the EPR nuclear power plant in Taishan, near Hong Kong, the only EPR installation currently in service in the world.

The incident was reported as follows on June 14: a small number of damaged uranium fuel rods ("rods") caused an accumulation of rare radioactive gases in the sealed primary circuit of the power plant.

The authorities had described the phenomenon as "current" and ruled out any danger.

Doubts from 2007-2008

In its letter, of which AFP has obtained a copy, CRIIRAD writes, on the basis of information transmitted by this whistleblower, that these "degradations observed on nuclear fuel assemblies (...) are mainly due to vibrations abnormal ”of these assemblies.

These vibrations "would be linked to a defect in the design of the EPR system tank".

Still according to CRIIRAD, "results of tests on a 0.2 mock-up" at the French nuclear company Framatome in Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire), would have revealed, from 2007-2008, these insufficiencies in the hydraulics of the vessel.

The association is therefore asking ASN, among others, whether it has been informed "of the detection of an abnormal level of vibration in the rod assemblies at Taishan".

It also calls on the EPR of Flamanville (Manche), under construction: should it not "require EDF to change the tank cover before any discrepancy?"

";

Does it consider it "acceptable, in terms of safety and radiation protection, for the new fuel (…) to be loaded into the reactor core as it is?"

"

ASN did not wish to speak.

“Taishan Reactor 1 fuel and vessel inspection work, initiated upon unloading, is still ongoing.

The origin of the fuel rod leaks will only be determined at the end of these expertises, ”EDF said.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2021-11-28

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