An international team representing nuclear power regulators from France, Canada, the United States, Finland, Britain and China has warned that the culture of credibility at AREVA's Le Creusot forge remained below expectations for the sophisticated nuclear power industry even two years past the discovery of anomalies at the Flamanville reactor expansion project.
In a report seen by Reuters, obtained from Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the inspection team noted that paperwork at the forge continued to show evidence of the use of correcting fluid, even though it has been banned on site.
The report said supervisors and workers at the forge, which the team inspected in December 2016, did not understand the nature of the problems that began with the discovery of high carbon anomalies in the reactor containment vessel bottom at Flamanville two years ago. Since then, it has been made public that an internal review conducted by AREVA found more than 400 paperwork irregularities dating back to 1965.
AREVA has closed down the forge, temporarily. A company spokesman said the company would seek permission from regulators to restart commercial production at Le Creusot this summer. Yet, even with that development, workers and supervisors did not understand the issues, the report says.
One of the problems at the forge, described by Remy Catteau, the head of equipment safety at French regulator Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), is that the forge is near the “limit of its technical capacity.”
“The tools at its disposal are not adequate to manufacture such huge components,” Catteau said in a phone interview. “In such a situation, errors are made.”
Catteau said ASN had sent a letter to AREVA asking for an update on progress for improving the forge's quality assurances. The company had until the end of March to response, he said.
The report has special implications in Britain, as AREVA is expected to supply parts for the Hinkley Point C reactor project, where two European Pressurized Reactors are to be built by French utility Electricite de France (EDF).