Flamanville: France's beleaguered forerunner to Hinkley Point C
Flamanville: France's beleaguered forerunner to Hinkley Point C
Over-budget and behind schedule, the €10.5bn nuclear reactor has faced problems that some say could be repeated in the UK
Due to come online in 2018, Flamanville will be the biggest nuclear reactor in the world. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
Jennifer Rankin in Flamanville
Wednesday 27 July 2016
On granite cliffs overlooking the Channel is France’s most famous building site. If all goes to plan, by the end of the decade this rocky outcrop will house the biggest and most powerful nuclear reactor in the world.
The technology behind the European pressurised reactor (EPR) is meant to be safer than anything that has gone before. But the project is more than three times over budget and years behind schedule, and France’s nuclear safety authority has found weaknesses in the reactor’s steel.
And the same model could soon be coming to the English coastline at an even bigger cost. France’s state-controlled energy giant, EDF, is expected to announce on Thursday whether it will go ahead with its investment into the £18bn Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset, where two EPR-style reactors are proposed. EDF is expected to come out in favour of the massive project, despite strong opposition from trade unionist board members, who argue the French government cannot afford it.
Perhaps not since the D-Day landings will the British government have taken such a keen interest in the Normandy coast. If and when it comes online, possibly in late 2018, the Flamanville EPR will be the world’s largest nuclear reactor. It will also be more efficient, using less fuel and producing almost a third less waste than older reactors, according to the technical specifics provided by EDF. The reinforced concrete core is intended to withstand plane crashes and earth tremors. But the combination of the EPR’s size and its safety features have turned it into a construction nightmare.
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