20 abnormalities detected on equipment for the EPR – Le Figaro

Twenty irregularities relating to equipment intended for the EPR reactor built by EDF at Flamanville have been detected on the occasion of the audit of the factory of le Creusot, Areva, announced on Friday that the nuclear safety Authority (ASN).

These abnormalities are “still under investigation”, explained to AFP Julien Collet, deputy director general of the ASN. “The EPR is not in service, therefore, does not present a risk”, he says.
After the discovery of a defect in the composition of the steel of the reactor vessel EPR manufactured at the factory of le Creusot, the ASN asked Areva a quality audit of its factory.

in Addition to the twenty irregularities relating to equipment intended for the EPR, Areva has, for the moment, also listed “87 irregularities concerning the reactors in operation, EDF,” said ASN in a briefing note. “The only one (out of 87 irregularities, editor’s note) that stands out, it is Fessenheim,” says Julien Collet. “The nature of the anomaly is likely to question the safety of the equipment.”
on The 19th of July, the ASN had also announced that the reactor n°2 of the dean of the French plants, stopped on the 13th of June, should be maintained in the shutdown due to a fault detected on one steam generator.

EDF recalls that “further analysis continues with a test program” on this piece.
”We are waiting for the elements of the EDF and Areva”, said the deputy director general of the ASN.

The release of the DSC is also part of an instruction still in the course on an anomaly detected on one steam generator of the reactor 4 of the Bugey nuclear power plant, shut down for maintenance. But “there is no particular alert,” says Julien Collet.

On the central of the Ain, the reactor n°5 of Bugey is at a standstill since August 2015 but for a lack of tightness of the containment. A problem unrelated to le Creusot.
Greenpeace announcement, Friday, to investigate “on this folder” and “request that the ASN has all the financial and human resources to conduct investigations and tests until the end”.
The list released on Friday reported an irregularity which relates to a steam generator not yet installed for the reactor 5 of Gravelines and the other 4 on the transport packaging of radioactive substances. “The general audit is still ongoing and will take several more months,” says Julien Collet. “It is likely to highlight further irregularities.”
”It is, therefore, the safety of the entire French nuclear reactors in operation that is in the games,” deduced from Greenpeace. “We are conducting this audit in industrial responsible in coordination with clients and safety authorities,” says to AFP, Areva. “We are determined to carry out this work until the end.”