What do the large, experienced, and sophisticated nuclear power programs of the U.S. and France have in common? Answer: they can’t seem to be able to build new generations of nuclear plants.
At least that’s the case for new units in western democratic countries. Two U.S. utilities have been unable to complete four Westinghouse AP1000 advanced reactors in states with regulations favorable to new units – South Carolina, where SCANA Corp. and public power giant Santee Cooper have scuttled the two new units at the V.C. Summer site, and in Georgia, where two more Westinghouse machines under construction at the Vogtle site stagger ahead and continue to pile up budget-busting costs and never-ending scheduling delays.
But the most recent evidence of nuclear malaise comes from nuclear paragon France, where the state-owned utility EDF (Électricité de France, not the Environmental Defense Fund) is facing continued skepticism over welds at its long-delayed, far over-budget Flamanville third unit in Normandy from the French nuclear regulator ASN.
In July, EDF cited problem welds at the plant, saying that fixing the problem would delay operation of the plant beyond the current estimates. EDF said it would now be looking at a 2020 startup. The plant is built around the French 1,600-MW EPR third-generation advanced pressurized water reactor.
In early October, Reuters reported that ASN expressed deep skepticism that EDF had fully addressed the July welding problems and would have to conduct additional tests. EDF had argued that it had the July welding problems solved, but ASN said it still had problems with eight welds.
The regulators said, “To the extent that it is not certain that this will be the case, ASN invites EDF to start preparing for possible repair work on the weldings….The ASN considers that the problems with the weldings show that EDF has failed to properly oversee certain activities on the Flamanville reactor construction site.” ASN added that it “also concludes that the observed discrepancies indicate a failure of the monitoring carried out by EDF on certain activities of the EPR reactor at Flamanville. It therefore asks EDF to extend the review of the quality of equipment installed on this reactor.”
The French Ecology Ministry followed the latest announcement of problems at Flamanville by uncoupling the start of the new reactor with the closure of the country’s oldest nuclear plant, two 900-MW units at Fessenheim. The government had originally tied the decommissioning of the Fessneheim units with the startup of Flamanville.
Ecology minister Francois de Rugy said that Fessenheim will close in 2022, regardless of the Flamanville startup. According to Reuters, “De Rugy said EDF had been unable give any clarity on when Flamanville’s new EPR reactor would come online. ‘Today, no one can say for sure when Flamanville will start and be operational.’”
Construction at Flamanville began in late 2007, with a cost estimate of about $4 billion, with a target of 2012 for operation. The latest cost estimate is $12.75 billion, with a startup date of no sooner than 2020.
The EPR design has also proven to be a major problem with the Finnish utility TVO, where the company is building a third unit, the first EPR to undergo construction, at Olkiluoto Island. The plant began construction in 2005, and was scheduled to operate in 2009. It is not projected to generate power until the fall of 2019. The cost has grown from an original estimate of $3.5 billion to $9.8 billion.
— Kennedy Maize