EDF ordered inspection of 200 nuclear pipe welds after more cracks were discovered | – #EDF #ordered #inspection #nuclear #pipe #welds #cracks #discovered
PARIS, 10 March (Reuters) – After French nuclear safety watchdog ASN discovered three more cracks this week at energy utility EDF ( EDF.PA ) in its fleet of 56 nuclear reactors 200 has ordered an inspection of the pipeline, the regulator said on Friday.
In addition to a large corrosion-related crack at the Penly 1 reactor in Normandy on Tuesday, which the watchdog attributed to faulty welding, two cracks were discovered at EDF’s Penly 2 reactor and the Cattenom 3 reactor in the Moselle.
An EDF spokesman declined to comment on ASN’s criticism, but said the two new cracks were due to “thermal fatigue”, which occurs when very hot and cold water combine inside the pipes, causing the steel to expand, contract and become more brittle over time.
The spokesperson added that EDF routinely checks the pipes for this phenomenon during maintenance using ultrasound.
The latest deficiency and control studies, France and it comes as the UK on Friday announced a new energy partnership to boost cooperation in nuclear energy, including power station construction, innovation and safety.
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Yes President of France Neither Emmanuel Macron nor UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned the nuclear operator’s recent failures after the bilateral summit.
“You are helping us secure our nuclear energy supply thanks to the incredible work of EDF,” Sunak told Macron.
EDF is building a new nuclear power station in Britain called Sizewell C, which has been plagued by cost overruns and construction delays. A second called Hinkley Point C factory is also in the works.
The French utility Penly 2 and Cattenom 3 are part of a group of 16 reactors marked by EDF as vulnerable to corrosion-related cracks due to a design flaw and prioritized for inspections in its inspection and maintenance plan.
EDF said that this plan now 200 is being updated to perform additional source validation and will be “published in the coming days”.
After France’s nuclear output fell to a 34-year low in 2022, Europe’s energy forward curve on Friday came as EDF scrambled to tackle stress corrosion problems at several sites. prices rose sharply after the announcement of new cracks.
“Some market participants may be concerned that corrosion issues are more difficult than first anticipated and that EDF will face both a long and short-term struggle to fix it and return generation to pre-2022 levels,” Rystad analyst Fabian Ronningen said.
Reporting by America Hernandez and Forrest Crellin; Edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-10 23:42:36
Source – reuters
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