The components that are not yet in service are the four steam generators and the pressuriser at the Flamanville 3 EPR, as well as 3 new steam generators that have not yet been installed and were made to replace the steam generators on reactors no. 5 and 6 at Gravelines.
Following publication by the ASN on 24 October 2019 of the information notice entitled “Manufacturing deviation at Framatome stress-relieving heat treatment of welds”, EDF(1) took note that the reactors involved can continue to function as they are, with no need to be shut down for the checks required to address the discrepancies. Physical checks were carried out on the relevant welds in the news team generators when they were installed at Gravelines 5, the relevant welds of in-service steam generators when they were shut down for fuel reloading (Blayais 4, Paluel 2 and Dampierre 4) and the weld on the Fessenheim 2 steam generator. For the other steam generators in operation the same checks will be carried out on the relevant welds during their next scheduled shutdown for fuel reloading, before the end of the first half-year of 2020 (Bugey 3 and Blayais 3). It is not anticipated at this stage that these shutdowns will need to be extended.
The Hinkley Point C project delivered J-0, the completion of the nuclear island “common raft” for its first unit in June 2019, in line with the schedule announced in September 2016.
Following this major milestone a detailed review of the project’s costs, schedule and organisation was performed. The review has concluded that:
Cost increases reflect challenging ground conditions which made earthworks more expensive than anticipated, revised action plan targets and extra costs needed to implement the completed functional design, which has been adapted for a first-of-a-kind application in the UK regulatory context.
Under the terms of the Contract for Difference, this new cost estimate has no impact for UK consumers or taxpayers. EDF’s rate of return for Hinkley Point C (IRR)(5) is now estimated at between 7.6% and 7.8%.
The management of the project remains mobilised to begin generating power from Unit 1 at the end of 2025. To achieve this, operational action plans overseen by the project management are being put in place. These involve the EDF Group’s engineering teams in Great Britain and France, buildings and ancillary works contractors, and suppliers of equipment and systems throughout the supply chain.
On 14 December 2018, CGN and EDF announced that Taishan nuclear power plant’s unit 1 had become the world’s first EPR to begin commercial operation. This last milestone was reached on 13 December 2018 after successful completion of the final statutory test of continuous operation at full power for 168 hours.
Unit 2 began commercial operation on 7 September 2019. All the requirements for the reactor’s safe operation were met barely nine months after Unit 1 was commissioned.
Comprising two 1,750-MW EPR reactors, Taishan nuclear power plant is the biggest cooperation project between China and France in the energy sector. Taishan’s two reactors are capable of supplying the Chinese power grid with up to 24TWh of carbon-free electricity a year, tantamount to the annual electricity consumption of 5 million Chinese users, whilst at the same time preventing the emission of 21 million tonnes of CO2 a year.
The Taishan project is led by TNPJVC, a joint venture founded by CGN (51%), EDF (30%) and the Chinese utility Guangdong Energy Group (19%). The EDF Group and its subsidiary Framatome supplied the EPR technology for the plant. The project capitalised on 35 years of strategic cooperation between EDF and CGN, as well as operating experience from the Flamanville 3 EPR and the complementarity between the French and Chinese nuclear sectors.
Experience acquired through the commissioning of the first reactor on 13 December 2018 made it possible to shorten the period between fuel loading and the start of commercial operation by three months, with identical safety conditions.
The Taishan project is contributing experience in project management and technological expertise to EPR reactors around the world. The first reactors to benefit from this experience are the two Hinkley Point C units currently being built in the UK. EDF and CGN are also partners in two other British projects: the Sizewell C two-EPR project, and the Bradwell B project which is based on Hualong technology.
On 17 September 2019, during the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), EDF, Naval Group and TechnicAtome unveiled “NUWARD”™, their jointly-developed small modular reactor (SMR) project. NUWARD is a PWR (pressurised water reactor)-based solution to meet the growing world demand for decarbonised, safe and competitive electricity generation in the 300-400MWe range.
The CEA and EDF have also initiated discussions with Westinghouse Electric Company to explore potential cooperation on SMR development.
EDF has submitted an application to the ASN and France’s Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition for the termination of operations and a declaration of the permanent shutdown of both reactors at Fessenheim nuclear power plant. The shutdown of reactor no. 1 is planned for 22 February 2020, whilst the shutdown of reactor no. 2 is planned for 30 June 2020.
This submission followed the signature by the French State and EDF on 27 September 2019 of a protocol agreement whereby the State will compensate EDF for the early closure of Fessenheim, which results from the cap on nuclear power output set by the “energy transition for green growth” law of 17 August 2015.
(1) Cf. press release of 25 October 2019.
(2) If this risk were to materialise, it would entail an additional cost of around £0.7 billion in 2015 sterling. Under this assumption the IRR for EDF would be lower by 0.3%.
(3) In 2015 sterling, excluding interim interest and excluding foreign exchange effect versus the reference exchange rate for the project of £1 = €1.23.
(4) Additional costs net of action plans.
(5) EDF’s forecast IRR calculated at the exchange rate £1 = €1.15 and including the capped compensation mechanism between shareholders for surplus costs or delays.
