Flamanville EPR: Connection of the nuclear reactor to the electricity grid “scheduled for summer 2024”, says EDF

Has the reactor finally started up? EDF plans for the Flamanville EPR to supply power to the national grid for the first time “in the summer of 2024”, twelve years later than the schedule planned for this nuclear reactor, according to a press release on Wednesday. “Connection of production to the national grid is planned for the summer of 2024,” says EDF.

In December, the operator was targeting a “mid-2024” connection until Tuesday’s announcement by the ASN (Nuclear Watchdog) delayed fuel loading to mid-April until the situation improves. “Flamanville 3 EPR is technically ready for commissioning,” EDF emphasizes in a press release.

ASN has decided to open a public consultation “from 27 March to 17 April 2024 on the draft decision authorizing the commissioning of the EPR Flamanville 3 reactor,” the energy company recalls in its press release. The announcement by ASN, which will publish a commissioning notice at the end of that consultation, raised fears of a further significant delay to the Normandy reactor project, which has been marked by numerous cost and schedule delays since its construction began 17 years ago.

Initial budget multiplied by 4

“This new stage of the procedure now allows for the first loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor within a few weeks,” continues EDF. Start-up operations can then continue until the temperature and pressure in the boiler increase, after which the reactor power increases. “At 25% capacity, the production plant will be connected to the national grid,” EDF explained in December 2022.

If the launch is confirmed for the summer of 2024, it will therefore take place twelve years later than planned, with the total cost of the project now estimated at 13.2 billion euros, according to EDF, four times the original budget of 3.2 billion euros. 3 billion euros.

Driven by renewed interest in nuclear, EDF intends to deploy third-generation reactors (EPRs) in France and Europe on an “industrial” scale, with a current target of “two per year” compared to one or two per decade currently. The task is ambitious given the recurring cost and delays that the Flamanville EPR epitomizes.

The industrial problem is colossal for a group weighed down by a huge debt of 54.4 billion euros and facing criticism for failures in EPR projects. Moreover, EDF must also respond to the resumption of the nuclear program in France, which includes up to 18 EPR2 reactors – an improved version of the EPR – and implement two of its British programs, Hinkley Point, which could face a delay of six years, and Sizewell.