19 French Nuclear Reactors taken offline, 12 more due to shut down

[kristopher]

Last edited Thu Nov 3, 2016, 09:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Those who promote nuclear power to address carbon emissions make a number of errors in the reasoning. IIRC the estimate is 5000 1GW reactors to meet global energy needs. This event illustrates one of the often overlooked risks associated with putting our faith in that path.
It turns out this plant, which forges critical components for NPPs around the world, has been off spec for a considerable amount of time. The failure of these components could lead to a Chernobyl scale event. Given that most reactors are near large population centers, speculating that an event directly affecting up to several million people is a credible proposition.

What happens to our global low carbon nuclear investment if that were to happen? It's a serious question that needs to be considered.

French nuclear problems shake European power market, boost prices
* French nuclear fleet restricted, causing tight supply

* Prices up across Europe's medium-, long-term curve

* Germany, others to plug gaps, see their prices rise

* Problems increase importance of winter weather

By Vera Eckert and Oleg Vukmanovic

FRANKFURT/MILAN, Oct 27 Deepening setbacks to France's nuclear reactors have shaken confidence in Europe's wholesale electricity markets as traders push winter prices to new highs in anticipation of fresh outages and tight supply.

The month-long rally intensified this week after French nuclear safety watchdog ASN warned its sprawling probe into forged quality control reports on reactor parts would turn up more irregularities. .

This leaves traders guessing as to how many more reactors could be shut.

The scale of forced closures in nuclear power-reliant France - 19 reactors offline and 12 more due to shut - is the biggest since the Fukushima disaster in 2011 crippled Japan's entire nuclear sector....

http://www.reuters.com/article/france-nuclear-market-idUSL8N1CX395

[dhol82]

1. Interesting.

Thought this was a government utility.

[progressoid]

2. " coal capacity can also be revved up to help"

Well, that'll be fine. A little more CO2 can't hurt that much.

[kristopher]

3. Exactly the point of what I wrote preceding the article.

What do you think will happen if we are dependent on nuclear and a major flaw in the production is discovered or another major accident happens?

Nuclear = all eggs in one basket

Also, the economics of nuclear technology are incompatible with Distributed Energy Resources. The requirement for rapidly ramping up and down in a DER system imposes a significant efficiency penalty on any reactors that are realistically on the horizon, making an already extremely expensive option even less of a bargain.

[kristopher]

4. Did French officials downplay nuclear incident?

Did French officials downplay nuclear incident? Is French media now?
07 Mar 2016 by Craig Morris

Last week, German media reported that the shutdown of a reactor in Fessenheim, France, should have been classified at a level of greater danger. While the German media focus on the event itself, French media have turned the issue into a “he said, she said” dispute. The coverage reveals the tradition of transparency in Germany – and the lack thereof in France.
By Craig Morris.

On Friday, March 4, two German media outlets – WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung – broke a story on the shutdown of a reactor in Fessenheim, located directly on the German border, in 2014. The title of the article at Süddeutsche Zeitung read “Failure at Fessenheim nuclear reactor was more serious than previously thought”; the one at WDR, “Nuclear accident apparently covered up.”

Both reports refer to a letter sent by French nuclear safety authority ASN to the reactor’s director. It explains the findings of its review. Essentially, water had entered an electrical cabinet, damaging some equipment. Engineers were then unable to move the control rods used to ramp the reactor up and down. In order to shut off the plant, which had essentially become uncontrollable by normal means, boric acid was poured into the reactor for an emergency shutdown. Both German reports cite German nuclear expert Manfred Mertins, who says that he knows of no other such emergency shutdown using the introduction of boric acid in Europe.

When I first saw these reports, I assumed that an insider had leaked the letter to Mertins, who had then gone to the German press. I wondered who was behind the leak and why that person, no doubt a Frenchman, would contact a German instead of someone in his own county. Then, I would want to know whether the German was right – did French officials play down a nuclear incident?

French journalists have not focused on these questions, but rather on German coverage of it, especially German Environmental Minister Barbara Hendricks’ subsequent call to shut down the reactor. Instead of asking French officials about the alleged cover-up, the French reporters ask what the officials thought of Hendrick’s comment. French coverage turns the whole matter into an insipid “he said, she said” dispute. Here are some article titles from major French papers on Friday:

Le Figaro: Incident at Fessenheim: German press worried
L’Express: “No reason” to close Fessenheim “in terms of security,” says ASN
Le Monde: Fessenheim nuclear reactor once again in the center of tension
Libération: Fessenheim nuclear plant “should be closed as soon as possible” according to Berlin
Le Point: Fessenheim, bone of contention between Paris and Berlin
One could hardly fault French readers for thinking the Germans shouldn’t get so huffy.

....

http://energytransition.de/2016/03/did-french-officials-downplay-nuclear-incident-is-french-media-now/