The cost of EDF’s new Flamanville nuclear reactor has swelled to more than three times the French state-owned utility’s original budget after further issues were revealed in the construction process. EDF said target construction costs had risen by €400m ($468m) to €10.9bn ($12.7bn). Already seven years behind schedule, the project will now be delayed by another year, with the loading of nuclear fuel not expected until the fourth quarter of 2019. In April, EDF revealed that problems with the weldings at its flagship nuclear site could impact the project’s costs and timetable following an assessment by the French Nuclear Safety Authority. On July 25, EDF said 33 of 148 inspected welds were found to have “quality deficiencies” and would be repaired: “EDF teams and their industrial partners are fully mobilised and are continuing all other assembly and testing activities at the Flamanville [European Pressurised Reactor (EPR)], including the system performance tests.” France’s Flamanville project is one of three EPRs currently being built across Europe. The third-generation technology has taken decades to develop and aims to improve safety, as well as reduce costs. EDF is also building the Olkiluoto 3 project in Finland and Hinkley Point C in the UK, both of which are also behind schedule.
New Economy 25th July 2018 read more »
The cost of the Flamanville-3 EPR nuclear unit under construction in northern France has risen from €10.5bn to €10.9bn with fuel loading now postponed by one year to the fourth quarter of 2019, state-controlled nuclear operator EDF said today.
Nucnet 25th July 2018 read more »
The Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor will be another year late and will cost even more than expected as a result of welding problems, which will result in a stay for Fessenheim. “Fuel loading is now expected in the fourth quarter of 2019”, while it was until officially expected in late 2018, says EDF in a statement released Wednesday. The coupling to the power grid of the reactor is then expected in the first quarter of 2020 for full power (1,650 MW) in the second quarter. The project will have accumulated eight years late. “The goal of construction cost is increased from 10.5 to 10.9 billion euros,” says the electrician. That’s more than three times the initial budget.
Romandie 25th July 2018 read more »
EDF has delayed scheduled fuel loading at its 1.6-GW Flamanville-3 nuclear project to the fourth quarter of 2019,and increased its construction cost by Eur400 million to Eur10.9 billion, the French utility said Wednesday. EDF said it had now inspected 148 of 150 welds in the main secondary system at Flamanville-3, of which 33 had quality deficiencies and needed repair. It would re-work a further 20 welds “even though they do not have any defects,” it said, as they did not comply with EDF’s “EPR design phase” quality requirements. For 10 further welds, EDF had submitted a proposal to French nuclear regulator ASN detailing “a specific justification method to confirm the high level of safety at the plant throughout its operating life.” The ASN is to examine this justification in detail, EDF said. The other 85 welds are compliant while the outstanding two will have been examined by the end of July, it said. As a result, “the loading of nuclear fuel is now scheduled for Q4 2019 and the target construction costs have been revised from Eur10.5 billion to Eur10.9 billion.” In the meantime hot testing of the EPR is scheduled to start before the end of 2018, EDF said. The impact on operations of the two Fessenheim reactors is currently being reviewed, particularly in relation to the French Energy Transition Law for green growth, which caps nuclear electricity generation capacity.
S&P 25th July 2018 read more »
