21 Jul (NucNet): The Flamanville-3 European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) unit under construction in Normandy, France, will now begin commercial operation in 2016, four years later than originally scheduled, Electricité de France (EDF) has said.
EDF said in a statement yesterday it has decided to introduce “a new approach” to organisation at the Flamanville site in response to recent events that have slowed down progress. As a result, the first electricity produced by the EPR will be sold in 2016, the company said.
The EDF board gave the go-ahead for construction of Flamanville-3 in May 2006, saying it expected to complete the unit by 2012.
The delay announced yesterday is linked to both structural and economic reasons, EDF said. The company said it had reviewed its assessment of the extent of the work to be done, particularly in terms of civil engineering such as iron reinforcements and anchor plates.
Work has also been delayed by comprehensive analysis that needs to be carried out as part of the post-Fukushima-Daiichi safety assessments that must be submitted to France’s nuclear safety authority (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire; ASN) in September.
EDF said its “new approach” to organisation with its partners includes the definition of a new, more reliable industrial schedule, the launch of regular public site meetings to assess progress, and new management and supervision practices.
The project, now estimated to be costing some six billion euro (EUR) (8.5 billion US dollars), up from EUR 3.3 billion in 2005, will give EDF valuable feedback and “a tried and tested approach” to organisation for future EPR reactors, particularly in the UK, the company said.
Flamanville-3 is the first nuclear power plant to be built in France for 15 years. It is also the first EPR. The first EPR to begin construction was Olkiluoto-3 in Finland, which is scheduled to be connected to the grid in 2013.
EDF said that while considerable progress has been made in recent months, with 80 percent of the civil engineering work completed, there have been two serious accidents, one of which has meant that civil engineering work had to be suspended for weeks, considerably slowing progress for the first half of 2011.
EDF operates 58 nuclear reactors in France, which provide about three-quarters of the country’s electricity.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
France Gives Final Go-Ahead For Flamanville EPR (News No. 93, 11 April 2007)
Construction Begins Of Flamanville-3 Nuclear Block (News in Brief No. 42, 4 December 2007)
Safety Authority Releases Results Of Flamanville-3 Inspection (News in Brief No. 38, 1 April 2008)
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