Part 1 of 3 Parts
Engineers have spread out through nuclear power plants across France in recent months. They are inspecting reactors for signs of wear and tear including cracks and corrosion. Hundreds of expert welders have been recruited to repair any problems they find in cooling circuits. Stress tests of metals in reactors are being conducted to check for any safety problems.
Europe is bracing for a winter without Russian gas. France is move rapidly to repair a series of problems that have been plaguing its fleet of nuclear power reactors. Currently, twenty-six of its fifty-six reactors are offline for maintenance or repairs after the discovery or cracks and corrosion in some pipes used to cool reactor cores.
The crisis is threatening the role that France has long played as the biggest producer of nuclear power in Europe. Questions are being raised about how much its nuclear reactor fleet will be able to help bridge Europe’s looming power crunch.
Électricité de France (EDF) is the state-backed nuclear power company that runs France’s nuclear power industry. Last week it said that it was working on an accelerated schedule to get all but ten of its power reactors back in operation by January. It added that there were no safety risks and that nuclear regulators were monitoring every step. French president Macron’s government has been pressuring the company to improve performance before freezing weather arrives.
Regis Clement is EDF’s deputy general manager of nuclear production. He said, “We were faced with an unprecedented situation and have gotten past the worst. We are doing our best to play a role in the energy crisis.”
The problems facing EDF include a fresh outbreak of safety-related incidents combined with unforeseen delays to the company’s repair schedule. They could not be hitting at a worse time. Russian President Putin is withholding energy to punish countries supporting Ukraine. This is pushing Europe to transform how it generates and saves power. Countries are banding together to stock additional power supplies. Major conservation programs are being pushed out.
Europe’s energy security remains on a thin edge. This has created a sense of urgency in France to get its nuclear power program back on track. President Macron’s government introduced a new measure this month in Parliament to speed up an ambitious plant to build six big power reactors starting in 2028. They are moving to fulfill a pledge he called a French “nuclear renaissance.”
France pivoted to nuclear power in the 1980s and it boasts the biggest nuclear fleet behind the U.S. France generates seventy percent of its electricity from nuclear energy. It also exports electricity to other countries. That has made France less dependent on Russian gas that neighbors such as Germany.
However, France’s nuclear power crunch has become so sever that President Macron is preparing to have the government take over control of the remaining sixteen percent of EDF that it does not already own. This will cost about ten billion dollars.
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