It is a new restart of reactors that will be delayed within the EDF nuclear fleet. The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) published a press release late in the afternoon in which it considers that two welds in reactor 1 of the Cattenom nuclear power plant must be repaired before restarting. These “indications”, a term used in the jargon to designate a signal that suggests a defect in the material, were revealed during the inspections carried out by EDF as part of the treatment of the phenomenon of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) that still affects some ten power company sites.
A restart that was scheduled for November 17
Based on these findings and with the support of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the ASN has decided to request the repair of the reactor before its restart, scheduled for two weeks a day and for a period of eight months. “ASN considers that, given the uncertainties in the fault characterization measurements as well as in the assumptions and methods used in the mechanical calculations, the behavior of the pipes affected by these two signs is not certain,” specifies the administrative authority.
The latter also mentioned the cases of other welds whose indication dimensions are smaller and therefore can be kept that way for a limited time. EDF plans major work on Reactor 1 of the Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant during its upcoming shutdown next year. The energy company will thus replace all sections of the safety injection system piping that are sensitive to cracking with CCS.
Source: BFM TV
