ASN insists, in an unprecedented way, on the need to better take into account the long -term consequences of global warming on the nuclear park.
by Perrine Mouterde and Marjorie Cessac
Will French nuclear power plants operate up to a period of eighty years? What will be the cumulative effects of global warming on the reactors? What will become of future radioactive waste? While senators must adopt, Tuesday, January 24, the nuclear acceleration bill, which aims to facilitate the start of work on the sites where six new EPRs could be built, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) A Called, within the framework of the debates on the future of the energy system, to a “global and systemic” reflection on safety issues.
“The discussions must relate to the entire nuclear domain, and not only on the new reactors, insisted, Monday, January 23, Bernard Doroszczuk, the president of ASN, during his wishes to the press. He It is important that we can dispose, in the coming years, elements making it possible to justify the structuring hypotheses which determine the nuclear component of the energy policy. “
Among these hypotheses is in particular that of increasing the lifespan of current reactors. During a hearing at the National Assembly, Thursday, January 19, the executive director of EDF in charge of the nuclear fleet, Cédric Lewandowski, assured that the question of its extension up to eighty years was “on the “. In February 2022, Emmanuel Macron had already expressed his desire to extend the reactors beyond fifty years, duration to which the oldest reactors in the park are currently authorized to operate – subject to “succeeding “Their fourth tense visit.
” have visibility “
Monday, the nuclear gendarme called EDF to provide him with the documents justifying a possible extension beyond sixty years by the end of 2024 – a deadline that ASN would like to see the next multi -year program of the ‘Energy (PPE), which will result from the future law Energy Climate, expected in the second half of 2023. The operator will notably have to provide elements to demonstrate the resistance of the tank and the reactor enclosure, essential parts but impossible to replace.
At the end of a technical instruction, the nuclear gendarme could then decide on a possible extension by the end of 2026. He has already initiated a dialogue with the American nuclear security authority and with Electric Power Research Institute, an American research organization, the United States having authorized power plants to stay in service up to eighty years.
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