The new Flamanville 3 reactor – the first in France using Areva’s EPR design – drew heightened public scrutiny this week after a satirical newspaper made public a letter from French regulators about the quality of construction at the site.
Le Canard Enchaine quoted a letter regulators sent to project owner EDF in June outlining 13 areas of concern inspectors observed between March and May. Among them, the letter addressed issues surrounding steam generators, “inconsistencies” in requirements provided to subcontractors and questions regarding the accumulators in the pressurized water reactor’s safety systems, according to The Financial Times.
EDF personnel on Wednesday told Dow Jones that the inspectors’ concerns were part of the regular back and forth between the company and regulators. The French utility also indicated construction is going according to plan, with some of the issues in the letter handled already and the rest anticipated to be addressed by the end of the month.
Flamanville 3 is the first new reactor to be built in France in 15 years and is scheduled to be the second EPR in the world to go online. At 1,630 megawatts electric, the reactor design is one of the most powerful in production and a competitor to the Westinghouse AP1000 and the GE-Hitachi ESBWR, all of which are seeking design approval in the U.S. Four EPRs are currently under construction, with two projects underway in China and one in Finland, in addition to Flamanville.