On Wednesday 9 August 2023, the Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant located just across the border in France, confirmed that production unit no. 2 of the Cattenom nuclear power plant had been reconnected to the electricity grid following repairs.
It was reconnected at 21:17 on Tuesday evening; it had been shut down on Saturday 5 August to carry out maintenance operations in the engine room (non-nuclear part of the facilities).
Production units no. 2, 3 and 4 are in operation and supply the electrical network; Production unit no. 1, meanwhile, has been shut down for scheduled maintenance since 27 May 2023.
Then, yesterday, 10 August 2023, they subsequently announced that production unit no. 3 had been disconnected from the electricity grid following the tripping of the turbine protection mechanisms at around 06:00 in the morning. They confirmed that the plant's operating teams were carrying out checks and interventions to make it possible to pinpoint the exact origin of the fault and initiate reactor power ramp-up operations - hopefully in the next few hours - in complete safety. They added that this event had no impact on the safety of the facilities and the safety of the workers. Production units no. 2 and no. 4 are in operation.
Mid-morning today, Friday 11 August 2023, the Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant confirmed that production unit no. 3 was reconnected to the electricity network on Thursday August 10 at 23:55. The investigations carried out confirmed that a fault on the high-voltage line allowing electricity to be routed to the network was the cause. The teams at the plant have carried out the necessary checks and production unit no. 3 is once again supplying the electrical network.
