France's EDF making checks after Flamanville 3 reactor automatically stopped
reuters.com
Un employé d'EDF sur le site de l'EPR de Flamanville
Stephanie Lecocq
reuters.com
Un employé d'EDF sur le site de l'EPR de Flamanville
Stephanie Lecocq
PARIS (Reuters) - French state-owned energy firm EDF said on Thursday its teams were making technical checks after the new Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor -- already plagued by 12 years of delays and setbacks -- automatically stopped one day after entering production.
The Flamanville EPR reactor had on Monday received authorization from the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) to proceed with divergence operations - the first nuclear fission which allows electricity production to finally begin.
EDF teams carried out these first divergence operations of the reactor on Sept. 3 but on the morning of Sept. 4 the reactor automatically stopped, said an EDF spokeswoman, confirming earlier media reports.
Initial elements from the technical diagnosis suggest the incident "could be linked to an inappropriate configuration of the installation", she said, adding teams were making checks before relaunching divergence.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Benjamin Mallet; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
reuters.com