The British nuclear regulatory authority (ONR) has highlighted "gaps" in terms of security at EDF, operator of the nuclear fleet across the Channel, in particular on cybersecurity issues, AFP learned on Monday from the regulator and business.
The regulator thus places the operator under “enhanced vigilance”, in which it has “identified shortcomings” on issues of “governance, risks and compliance, and certain technical controls following a series of targeted inspections. “, According to a statement sent to AFP, confirming information from the Sunday Telegraph.
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“Enhanced vigilance” is the second level on a scale of three, between the degree of “routine” and “significantly enhanced” attention.
The ONR has identified “an increased potential for risks due to the upgrading of complex IT systems and changes in the organization of our internal security department,” an EDF spokesperson said in a statement to the AFP.
“The regulator has not identified any other issues of concern, it has simply chosen to subject these matters to further examination over the coming year,” the company added, assuring that this development does not call into question. the nuclear safety of its UK reactors.
Presentation of plans by EDF to address these concerns
The ONR specifies for its part that it cannot go into detail on security issues because “this information could be exploited by potential adversaries” of the United Kingdom.
“But it is important to stress that security at nuclear sites is designed using defense in depth (a system made up of successive independent barriers, editor’s note), so that individual shortcomings in specific areas have no effect on global security,” added the regulator.
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EDF will present detailed plans to address these concerns, which will be reviewed and assessed by the regulator.
Great Britain currently has 15 reactors on eight sites, but many are at the end of their life and Hinkley Point, a new power plant project carried out by EDF and the Chinese CGN, has seen its costs soar and will not open before 2027. The British government has also set itself until July 20 to decide on the launch of the construction project for another power plant, Sizewell C, for which EDF is also its main partner.
London has made nuclear development one of its priorities in its energy strategy to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.