In France, a corrosion problem has been discovered in a safety system in a fifth nuclear reactor. The same problem had already been discovered in four other reactors, including two at the Chooz nuclear power plant, near the Belgian border. The reactors involved are shut down.
“The defects found on the last-generation reactors were also found on another reactor,” the French Institute of Nuclear Safety (IRSN) told the French news agency AFP.
Two reactors in Civaux and two in Chooz had already been shut down earlier. These are the most recent and most powerful reactors in France, each generating 1,450 megawatts. Now the corrosion problem has also been identified in another reactor, at the Penly power station (1,300 megawatts). Energy giant EDF is checking whether the defect is still present in other reactors.
Across France, 10 of the 56 nuclear reactors are currently shut down. They represent about a fifth of the country’s nuclear capacity.
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