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EdF checks for fault in 20 French nuclear reactors |
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| FRANCE: February 3, 2003 | ||
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PARIS - Electricite de France said last week it was carrying out checks on 20 of its 58 nuclear reactors in France after finding a design flaw in its 1,300 megawatt (MW) units.
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A spokesman for the state-owned utility, which operates all of France's commercial nuclear plants, also said it was "probable" it would have to change certain parts in the fuel assemblies of the units but the repairs would only take place during scheduled maintenance. The additional work will not add to the duration of the regular maintenance and refuelling of the nuclear reactors. France, Europe's top power exporter, is heavily dependent on EdF's 63,000 MW of nuclear capacity, which last year produced about 80 percent of its total electricity production. EdF said a fault was detected at the No. 2 reactor at the Nogent plant, located 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Paris, on November 22 after it detected a rise in radioactivity in the primary circuit. "Fretting", or the wear of the fuel cores due to vibration at the foot of assemblies, was the cause of the rise in radioactivity, EdF said. The reactor was shut from November 23 to January 18 ahead of its scheduled maintenance in the first half of 2003. Although the incident was rated at the lowest level on the International Nuclear Event Scale, a similar discovery was made at Cattenom's reactor 3 on March 15, 2001, which was classified at level one, on a scale that goes up to 7 for major accidents like Chernobyl. The fault was also discovered to a lesser a degree at Penly-2 and Golfech-1, EdF said in a statement.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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