The French nuclear regulator Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) has mandated EDF to repair welds in the main steam transfer pipes of the 1,650 MWe Flamanville-3 EPR reactor before the reactor is commissioned. EDF expects to achieve the repair works by the end of 2022, which means that the reactor would not be commissioned before that date. EDF had initially asked ASN if these welds could be repaired in 2024, after commissioning the reactor.
In July 2018, the group found quality deficiencies in 33 welds that push it to revise the schedule and the construction costs of the project: the loading of nuclear fuel was delayed by a year, while construction costs rose to €10.9bn, from the €10.5bn expected previously (up from a December 2012 estimate of €8bn). The Flamanville project was initially expected to be commissioned in 2013 at a cost of €3bn; it will now start at least 10 years behind schedule, posting a cost escalation of nearly €8bn. The project is facing other challenges: even though the French nuclear watchdog (ASN) cleared the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of the unit, it will have to be replaced by 2024 at the latest.
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