France

Irregularities found in Areva-made components in French nuclear plants - ASN

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Irregularities have been found in around 50 Areva-made components installed in French nuclear reactors, nuclear regulator ASN said on Tuesday.

It said that after the discovery of weak spots in the reactor vessel of the EPR reactor under construction in Flamanville, France last year, Areva began a review of manufacturing procedures at its Creusot steel forging plant.

In a statement, ASN said it had been informed by Areva that its investigation had found evidence of irregularities in about 400 components produced since 1965, of which some 50 are believed to be in use in French nuclear plants.

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Germany demands France shut old nuclear plant near border

Friday, March 4, 2016

Germany demanded Friday that France close down its oldest nuclear plant, Fessenheim, near the German and Swiss borders -- just one of several ageing atomic plants that are unsettling France's neighbours.

"This power plant is very old, too old to still be in operation," said a spokesman for Environment and Nuclear Safety Minister Barbara Hendricks.

"That's why the environment minister demands its closure at the earliest possible date," he said, reiterating Berlin's earlier demands.

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EDF’s Normandy EPR Vessel Fault Decision Seen in 2016, ASN Says

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

France’s nuclear safety authority won’t decide until early next year whether a key piece of equipment on a nuclear reactor being built by Electricite de France SA in Normandy is safe or needs to be changed, the regulator said.

“I don’t see us making a decision or taking a position before the beginning of 2016,” Pierre-Franck Chevet, president of Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, told a hearing at the French Senate Tuesday. The finding could range from rejecting the equipment as unsafe to allowing its use under certain conditions, he said.

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Nuclear Test Risks Blowing Lid Off U.K.’s Plan to Keep Lights on

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Builders of the U.K.’s first nuclear plant in two decades are about to take a vital component and break it.

The 110-ton spherical steel lid was destined to sit atop a reactor at the Hinkley Point site in Somerset. Instead it will be sacrificed to test the strength of a part already welded in place at similar atomic projects in France and China.

The tests are essential after regulators found potential weaknesses in the steel used to contain radiation. The results may derail countries’ nuclear programs that are relying on the EPR reactors. They also threaten a generation of atomic plants that developer Areva SA has billed as the world’s safest.

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EDF Nuclear Plant Leak in France Prompts Court Complaint

Thursday, April 23, 2015

PARIS — Anti-nuclear groups have filed a court complaint against French utility EDF for under-reporting an incident at its Fessenheim plant near the German border, they said on Tuesday.

On Feb. 28, EDF stopped one of two nuclear reactors at the Fessenheim plant for an unplanned outage, citing "a lack of watertightness" on some piping outside the nuclear zone. It said there had been no safety or environmental impact.

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UK nuclear strategy faces meltdown as faults are found in identical French project

Monday, April 20, 2015

A “very serious” fault has been discovered in a French nuclear power station which is at the heart of David Cameron’s strategy to “keep the lights on” in Britain in the next decade.

The future of two nuclear reactors planned for Hinkley Point in Somerset has been thrown into doubt by the discovery of a potentially catastrophic mistake in the construction of an identical EPR power plant in Normandy.

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Areva warns of looming 4.9bn full-year loss as write-downs grow

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Areva, the French nuclear group, on Monday issued its fifth profit warning in seven months, saying it expected to report a €4.9bn loss for 2014 as cost overruns ballooned on key European projects.

The annual net loss - due to be the largest the state-controlled group has ever recorded - comes as Areva works with the French government on the details of a state-backed rescue package, according to people familiar with the situation.

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French energy minister wants new nuclear reactors

Friday, February 20, 2015

PARIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - France should build a new generation of nuclear reactors to replace the country's ageing plants, Energy Minister Segolene Royal said on Tuesday, the first time a government member has clearly approved this option.

France, the country most reliant on nuclear power, must decide in the next few years whether to continue down the nuclear route as about half of its 58 reactors will reach their designed 40-year age limit in the 2020s.

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Global nuclear decommissioning cost seen underestimated, may spiral

Monday, January 19, 2015

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - German utility E.ON's breakup has led to worries that funds set aside for decommissioning reactors will not suffice, but globally the cost of unwinding nuclear is uncertain as estimates range widely.

As ageing first-generation reactors close, the true cost of decommissioning will be crucial for the future of the nuclear industry, already ailing following the 2011 Fukushima disaster and competition from cheap shale gas, falling oil prices and a flood of renewable energy from wind and solar.

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Areva rethinks strategy after ditching targets

Thursday, November 20, 2014

PARIS (Reuters) - Areva must consider radical restructuring options after it abandoned financial targets in the face of continuing delays, writedowns and losses from its nuclear operations, analysts said, after the firm's shares plunged on Wednesday.

The state-owned group issued a third profit warning in four months, said it would review its funding options and dropped its 2015-16 financial targets, blaming delays to its Finnish Olkiluoto reactor, the slow restart of Japan's reactors and a lackluster nuclear market.

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