The French Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) has authorised national power utility EDF to operate the 915 MW Tricastin-2 nuclear reactor in southern France for a further ten years.
EDF has successfully completed a third ten-year review for the unit, which was commissioned in 1980. By the end of 2015, the company will have to implement post-Fukushima safety upgrades that were imposed in June 2012 and January 2014. The next ten-year safety review for Tricastin 2 is expected before 18 November 2021.
All 34 of 900 MW reactors were granted a 10-year lifetime extension in 2002 after their second ten-year reviews. In October 2006, all twenty 1,300 MW reactors were allowed to operate for an additional 10 year.
EDF's Blayais-3 nuclear power plant in south-western France is currently undergoing its third ten-year safety review; maintenance operations started in July 2014 and were expected to be completed in early 2015 with the installation of three new steam generators. However, Areva failed to produce compliance certificates to comply with new safety regulations, leading to delays in the reactor's restart, now expected in mid-2015. This will raise maintenance costs by €1/day, i.e. about €180m for a 6-month delay.
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