| This chapter is devoted to pressurised water reactors (PWRs). These reactors, used to produce electricity, lie at the heart of the nuclear industry in France. Many other installations described in the other chapters produce the fuel intended for these plants or reprocess it, store the waste produced by them or review the physical phenomena related to reactor operation and safety. These reactors are operated by Electricité de France (EDF). One particularity in France is the standardisation of plants, with a large number of technically similar reactors, justifying a "generic" presentation in this chapter. However, a table at the end of the chapter gives the significant events on each site. Additional information can be obtained from the DRIRE for each individual site. | ||
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1 | GENERAL INFORMATION ON EDF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS |
Overall, the 19 French nuclear power plants are similar. They each comprise from 2 to 6 PWRs, which all together comes to 58 reactors. For each of them, the nuclear part was designed and built by Framatome, with EDF acting as industrial architect. The thirty-four 900 MWe reactors can be split into: • the CP0 plant series, comprising the 2 Fessenheim reactors and 4 Bugey reactors (reactors 2 to 5), The twenty 1300 MWe reactors comprise: • the P4 series, comprising the eight reactors at Paluel, Flamanville and Saint-Alban, Finally, the N4 series comprises four 1450 MWe reactors, two on the Chooz site and two on the Civaux site. Despite the overall standardisation of the French nuclear power reactors, certain technological innovations were introduced as design and construction of the plants proceeded. The CPY series differs from the Bugey and Fessenheim reactors in building design and the addition of an intermediate cooling system between that used for containment spraying in the event of an accident and that containing river water, along with more flexible control. The design of the 1300 MWe reactor systems, core protection devices and plant buildings differs considerably from CPY series provisions. It will be noted that the power increase is matched by the addition of a fourth steam generator, so that the cooling capacity is greater than for the 900 MWe reactors equipped with three steam generators. Moreover, the reactor containment consists of a double concrete-walled structure, instead of the single wall with steel liner design adopted for the 900 MWe series. The P'4 series differs slightly from the P4 series, notably with regard to the fuel building and primary and secondary piping. Finally, the N4 series differs from the previous reactors in the design of the more compact steam generators and of the primary pumps and in the computerised instrumentation and control system |
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