The naked earth to where the eye can see, an incessant broom of trucks several meters high and terraces in the chalk cliff: in Peny, the construction of the nuclear rebirth carried out by the government again draws the landscape of the coast of the coast d’Abâtre. Near Dieppe, on the site of the EDF Nuclear Plant in Penly, the preparatory work for the construction of two new EPR2 reactors extends in a titanic site of 155 hectares.
With the funds and excavators among the largest on the planet, more than 200 machines of several tens of tons carry an incessant broom for the land movements of the site. This preparatory work began on July 1, 2024, after the publication of an environmental authorization decree, but it will still be necessary to wait “until the end of 2026” and the decree of the creation of the creation so that the construction site itself is “definitely set”, says Fritric Hennion, director of the EPR2 project in Penly.
Located at the start -up in 2038
By then, the EDF nuclear operator must stop before the end of the year, the estimation and planning of the EPR2 program, including the construction of 6 reactors whose start -up, in Penly, was compensated in 2038 instead of 2035. By appointing a pilot last May at the head of EDF of Nuclear (Framatome), Bernard Fontana, implementation of the program.
Meanwhile, huge trucks that transport 30 tons of chalk are followed in the Leu Leu tail on the white roads of the Penly site, which will thank around 10,000 people. As the preparatory work progresses (facilities of the 2023 nuclear acceleration law), the France’s energy route, the PPE3 decree, the object of the inflamed debates in the political class between the pro-Nuclear and the supporters of the renewable energies, is always delayed. The previous PPE had acted the closure of the nuclear plants.
First planned in 2027, the “first concrete” is expected, a jargon of the sector to qualify the base stone of the reactor building by the end of 2028. A justified delay due to the need to obtain “the greatest possible maturation of the project and avoid returns behind.” Larger from 20 to 30% compared to the reactors of the old generation, the two EPR2 Penly will stay in the hollow of the chalk cliff, “reproduced”, that is to say, 40 meters.
Started from the excavator, the 3 to 4 million cubic meters of chalk of this cliff are transported to the channel to create an extension of 20 hectares won in the sea to build workshops and work areas or storage. A granite tear in Norway protects this new artificial coast where 13,500 concrete blocks will serve as a breeze for this 1.4 km chalk dike.
Amount of “astronomical” concrete
One hundred meters above the reactors, the “upper part of the site” of 100 hectares in the upper part of the cliff will accommodate a parking lot with 2,000 spaces, two mini concrete factories (called note of the editor of “Energy Plants”), a bus station and seven air locks that are supposed to “fluidize” the entrance to the vehicles. Between the two, several levels to 44, 64 and 80 meters above sea level will see the appearance of life bases and offices.
Eiffage, present on the site with two concrete electric plants, flows 500 m3 per day. In total, there will be 1.2 million m3 that the construction company will have to produce for the construction of dike cubes, infrastructure buildings and reactors. An amount of “astronomical” concrete according to Nicolas Beaujot, director of the Eiffage site, which already manages 700 employees.
This “mega site” is a “territory for the territory” for Paul Lhotellier, president of the Public Works Group of the same name, established for 106 years in Normandy. Twenty of their employees worked for two years in the new parking lot and another hundred in the surrounding accessories. A bet won for those who did not want to remain “spectators” of the transformation of their territory.
Source: BFM TV
