France

France: Steps To Protect Gravelines Nuclear Plant From Oil Disaster

Monday, March 11, 2013

A catastrophic fire and explosion at a Total oil terminal could affect safety at the adjacent Gravelines nuclear power plant, an annual review of nuclear safety in France has revealed. Total and EDF will make changes to avoid effects on nuclear safety from a previously unconsidered scenario.

In the 1970s two major industrial developments began near the town of Gravelines in the Flanders region of northern France: An oil terminal began operation in 1974, followed one year later by construction of the first reactor at the adjacent Gravelines nuclear power plant. The terminal went on to expand through the 1970s and by 1985 the nuclear power plant was the largest in the world with six reactors in operation.

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French police search EDF chief's office in EnBW probe-source

Friday, March 1, 2013

PARIS, March 1 (Reuters) - French police have searched the office of EDF Chief Executive Henri Proglio as part of a German investigation into the 2010 purchase of EDF's stake in utility EnBW by the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a source close to the matter said.

German prosecutors opened preliminary proceedings in July into alleged links between Morgan Stanley's top dealmaker in Germany and one of Baden-Wuerttemberg's top politicians relating to the state's purchase of shares in EnBW.

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Oettinger calls for ministerial meeting on ITER

Monday, February 25, 2013

While MEPs continued their debate on the European Commission’s proposal to grant a specific budget under the multiannual financial framework to the ITER nuclear fusion research and engineering project, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger announced to the member states’ research ministers, meeting in Brussels on 18 February, that he would organise a ministerial meeting of the ITER Council in Cadarache, France, in September this year.

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Areva and EDF defend project costs

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Areva and EDF, the French nuclear groups, have both defended the cost of new nuclear projects despite the €2bn of extra cost overruns on their flagship next-generation reactor at Flamanville in Normandy.

The news that the reactor, the first built in France for 15 years, is expected to cost €8.5bn rather than the €3.3bn first forecast comes as questions are raised about whether nuclear power remains affordable.

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Areva Again Raises Estimate of Cost of Olkiluoto Reactor

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Chief Executive Luc Oursel said the reactor in Olkiluoto will ultimately cost about 8 billion euros, same as a similar reactor it is building in Flamanville, in northern France. That's well over the last cost estimate of around EUR6.4 billion.

"Our estimation is that the whole project (in Finland) will have a cost in constant euros close to Flamanville," Mr. Oursel said during a press conference.

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EDF raises French EPR reactor cost to over $11 billion

Monday, December 3, 2012

PARIS (Reuters) - French utility EDF has raised the cost of the construction of its next-generation nuclear reactor by more than 2 billion euros on Monday, the latest in a series of overruns for the first EPR reactor built in France.

Stricter regulation in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster contributed to bringing the total cost of the 1,600-MW Flamanville European pressurized reactor to 8.5 billion euros ($11.11 billion), the group said.

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EDF’s Fessenheim Shutdown Will Push Region to Import Power

Friday, November 23, 2012

President Francois Hollande’s decision to shut Electricite de France SA’s oldest reactor at Fessenheim in 2016 may force the power-exporting eastern region to rely on imports and require extra spending on the local grid.

“The power supply situation of Alsace will become more fragile,” Dominique Maillard, president of grid operator Reseau de Transport d’Electricite, said at a press conference today.

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EDF Plan to Toughen Concrete Base of Oldest Reactor May Be Model

Monday, November 12, 2012

Electricite de France SA’s plan to bolster the concrete base of its oldest reactor would be a world first and could be extended to the rest of its French reactor fleet, the atomic safety regulator said.

EDF, which operates all of the country’s 58 reactors, has submitted a plan to the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire to carry out a project to thicken the base of the 900-megawatt Unit 1 of the Fessenheim plant in eastern France. The regulator, which ordered EDF to improve safety or shutter the reactor by the middle of 2013, could rule within two months on whether the plan is viable.

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EU to raise nuclear research spending

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Average annual funding for nuclear research is expected to grow almost 15% under the European Union's (EU's) planned Horizon 2020 program. Fusion programs account for nine-tenths of the budget.

Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness. Running from 2014 to 2020 with an €80 billion ($104 billion) budget, the EU's new program for research and innovation is part of the drive to create new growth and jobs in Europe.

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No damage from leak at Flamanville nuclear reactor

Saturday, October 27, 2012

(Reuters) - A contained radioactive water leak detected at EDF's Flamanville nuclear plant did not cause any damage to the environment or harm any employees, France's nuclear safety watchdog ASN and EDF said on Thursday.

The nuclear safety agency said on its website EDF had detected a leak in a water pipe that feeds the plant's reactor 1 primary circuit late on Wednesday. It was stopped and did not cause any radioactive contamination.

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