One of the reactors at the Fessenheim nuclear power station had to be shut down because of the hot weather. It is the fourth in France to suffer the consequences of the heatwave.
EDF said on Saturday that it shut down one of the two reactors at the Fessenheim nuclear plant (Haut-Rhin) because of the hot weather.
In total, Saturday at 11am, four reactors of nuclear power plants in France were stopped because of the heatwave: one in Fessenheim, two at the Bugey plant in the Ain and one in that of Saint-Alban in Isère, detailed a spokesperson for EDF. Fessenheim and Saint-Alban reactors No. 2 have reduced production.
“On 4 August, at 4:09, the Fessenheim plant’s production unit No. 1 was shut down in a planned manner because of the current weather conditions and to respect the thermal discharge authorizations in the Grand Canal. ‘Alsace’, says EDF on its website.
EDF had already reduced the production of the No. 2 reactor by Friday for the same reasons.
The oldest nuclear power plant in France, whose closure is scheduled when the EPR Flamanville will enter into operation, takes water in the Grand Canal of Alsace to cool its reactors and supply its operating circuits, then rejects .
Reduced electricity demand
In the event of hot weather, the power station must modulate its production, in order to limit the heating of the water withdrawn and returned to the Grand Canal d’Alsace, whose average daily temperature must not exceed 28 degrees.
The department of Haut-Rhin was placed on orange alert for heatwave like 67 other departments in France.
A reactor at the Saint-Alban nuclear power plant and another reactor at the Bugey nuclear power plant were also shut down on Friday, in order to avoid an excessive rise in the Rhône’s temperature.
This lower nuclear output from EDF comes at a time when demand for electricity is reduced, particularly with the decline in economic activity related to holidays in August.
