Sooner or later, EDF will have to close power plants. In front of the electrician is a vast building site with many unknowns. And in the middle flows the Meuse. Nestled in one of its loops, a few kilometers from the Belgian border, the two cooling towers of the Chooz nuclear power plant spew their plumes of white smoke. On the other side of the river, under the wooded hillside that has taken the colors of autumn, EDF is leading the dismantling of Chooz A. Shut down since 1991this reactor, installed in an artificial cavern, saw its installations gradually dismantled and evacuated. Still to settle the fate of the tank. Perched on a metal bridge over a deep pool where she was dipped, a handful of Swedish engineers from the American company Westinghouse remotely maneuver the articulated arms of a robot that cut it. A long work, which must occupy until 2022. After which, the cave Chooz A will be filled with sand, for eternity.
L’Express 22nd Feb 2019 read more »
