Luxembourg's Corps grand-ducal d'incendie et de secours (CGDIS) has reported that on Wednesday 24 August 2022, EDF announced new grid coupling dates for four of its reactors (Cattenom 1, Cattenom 3, Cattenom 4 and Penly 1) as part of the continuation of controls, expertise and repairs related to the search for stress corrosion.
For the Cattenom plant, the programme of checks and appraisals is still continuing:
- reactor no. 3, shut down to carry out these checks on 26 March, was the subject of metallurgical expertise (sampling for laboratory analysis),
- reactors n°4 and n°1 have been on scheduled shutdown for their annual maintenance, called “partial inspection” since February and June respectively.
The EDF is taking advantage of these scheduled stops to carry out checks: ultrasonic testing of welds, metallurgical expertise, etc.
The analysis of the results of the last examinations carried out, the call for specialised skills, as well as a more detailed knowledge of the phenomenon, will allows them to redefine their industrial programme, which leads then to an adaptation of the duration of the outages in progress on these reactors which will not be back on the electricity grid before the following dates:
- Cattenom 1 = 1 November 2022,
- Cattenom 4 = 14 November 2022,
- Cattenom 3 = 11 December 2022.
According to the ED, the nuclear sector is fully mobilised to continue and extend its control programme as well as its industrial programme.
Note: stress corrosion is characterised by fine cracks that are not visible to the naked eye. This is a phenomenon known in industry, which simultaneously involves the material, the mechanical stresses to which the material is subjected, and the nature of the fluid circulating in it. The EDF group has undertaken to inspect all of its reactors by 2024. On 26 July 2022, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) deemed EDF's strategy "appropriate".
