France: nuclear reactors have worrying cracks

SAARBRÜCKEN, GERMANY. In less than a week, nuclear safety experts have identified cracks of worrying dimensions in two reactors at Penly, in the north of the country, and in one of the reactors at Cattenom, in eastern France, close to the border with Germany.

Last Tuesday (7), nuclear safety experts identified a crack in an emergency tube used to flood the reactor with water in the event of a nuclear accident in reactor 1 at the Penly plant.

According to French newspaper Le Parisien, the crack “extends 155 mm, or about a quarter of the circumference of the pipe, and its maximum depth is 23 mm, for a pipe thickness of 27 mm,” according to information released by the safety authority. The cause of the crack was identified as “stress corrosion.”

Two days after the announcement about reactor 1 at the Penly plant, France announced that two more cracks had been identified in two reactors. In Penly reactor 2, the size of the crack reaches 57 mm in length, representing less than 10% of the circumference, for a maximum depth of 12 mm.

The proportion of the damage is seen as “not insignificant”, according to authorities. At the Cattenom plant, in reactor 3, the crack reaches 165 mm in length, for a maximum depth of 4 mm.

EDF, the energy company responsible for reactor checks, is expected to begin a large-scale repair program.

The company is expected to check a total of 200 welds at the affected plants, causing possible prolonged shutdowns and raising uncertainty regarding nuclear energy production in the country.

France produced less electricity last year than it had in the past three decades, one reason being the country's outdated nuclear fleet. Emmanuel Macron's government plans to build two of the six new nuclear power plants that are due to be built in the country during his term.