https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/06/12/frances-global-warming-predicament/
Source: https://nukewatchinfo.org/
In France, reactors shutdown due to lack of cooling water from rising temperatures and dried up rivers.
Half of France’s 56 reactors shuttered for repairs, and its nuclear
energy production fell by 30%, leaving one of the world’s most
nuclear-powered nations a net importer of energy in 2022.
The former heads of nuclear power regulation in the U.S., Germany,
France, and the U.K. issued a joint statement outlining why nuclear
power is not the answer to climate chaos and is not a viable nor
sustainable source of energy for the health of people or planet. After
years of work inside the industry, they should know. The four leaders
issuing the joint statement are: Dr. Greg Jaczko, former Chairman of the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and founder of Maxean, an energy
company; Prof. Wolfgang Renneberg, a university professor and former
Head of Reactor Safety, Radiation Protection, and Nuclear Waste for
Germany’s Federal Environment Ministry; Dr. Bernard Laponche, a French
engineer and author, former Director General for the French Agency for
Energy Management, and former Advisor to French Minister of Environment,
Energy, and Nuclear Safety; Dr. Paul Dorfman, an associate fellow and
researcher at the University of Sussex and former secretary to the U.K.
Government. Committee Examining Radiation Risk from Internal Emitters.
Almost all sodium-cooled reactors constructed around the world have
experienced sodium leaks, likely because of chemical interactions
between sodium and the stainless steel used in various components.
Having to deal with all these volatile properties and safety concerns
naturally drives up the construction costs of fast reactors, rendering
them substantially more expensive than common thermal reactors.
Sodium-cooled reactors … operat[e] at dismally low rates compared to
standard reactors, the [fuel] load factor … for the Prototype Fast
Reactor in the United Kingdom was 27%; France’s Superphenix reactor
managed a mere 7.9%. The typical US reactor operates with a load factor
of more than 90%.
President Emmanuel Macron of France once said that “without civil
nuclear power, there is no military nuclear power, and without military
nuclear power, there is no civil nuclear power.”
EDF, France’s largely state-owned nuclear reactor agency, temporarily
shut down 15 reactors after cracks were discovered in emergency cooling
circuits a year ago. The company had to halt production in others to
allow for upgrades and as a result of the overheated climate. Rising
temperatures have rendered France’s river water too warm to cool its
reactors and waste fuel. The shutdowns are consequential in a country
that boasts the world’s largest percentage of nuclear power production
compared to other electricity sources. The cooling circuit cracks are
reported to have been caused by stress corrosion and faulty welded
seals: severely dangerous flaws that could lead to a loss-of-coolant and
meltdowns. As reactors are currently being inspected and repaired,
fixes are moving slowly. Replacement components need to be readjusted
regularly, EDF said to Reuters. Many of the reactors are approaching the
end of their 40-year licenses, but EDF is considering 10-year license
extensions. Due to the location of the problems, workers carrying out
the hazardous duty are exposed to higher doses of ionizing radiation.
Consequently, government contractors have arbitrarily raised the
allowable maximum dose limit, relaxing rules they said were overly
protective in any case. France hopes to have all the reactors back on
line by February 2023.
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