France must boost nuclear industry to keep reactor fleet safe - watchdog

Electricite de France SA

25/05/2023 11:28

PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) - France needs to boost its
nuclear industry, including with more skilled workers and
investment, to keep its fleet of nuclear plants safe, the head
of the country's nuclear watchdog, ASN, said on Thursday.
    "The results of the inspections carried out by the ASN in
2022 show that the technical capabilities of the nuclear supply
chain remain a point of vigilance," the body's president,
Bernard Doroszczuk, said. 
    Last year was marked by major outages at nuclear fleet
operator EDF  EDF.PA  due to stress corrosion at some plants and
a summer drought which led to production cuts as cooling water
became scarce, something that showed "significant efforts" were
still needed to keep the sector safe, Doroszczuk said.
    ASN said that water temperature limits for reactor cooling
need to be closely watched as last year's extreme weather
conditions, which led to an exceptional lifting of the limits,
could become more frequent in the future.
    EDF has requested thermal discharge limits be lifted
permanently, saying a study they conducted showed last year's
higher limits had no impact on biodiversity. Some environmental
groups oppose the measures, however.
    Banking heavily on nuclear energy as a cheap and low-carbon
source of electricity, France's government is planning a new
energy and climate law by autumn to lay the groundwork for the
construction of at least six additional reactors. The bill will
also include new multi-year energy planning. 
    Doroszczuk said plans should include anticipated checks at
existing plants to make sure they will still be safe in the 15
to 20 years to come and "to avoid the risk of deadlock in the
nuclear system as a whole". 

 (Reporting by Forrest Crellin and Benjamin Mallet, writing by
Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
 ((tassilo.hummel@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter handle:
@tassilo_hummel;))