On Tuesday 13 August 2024, Greenpeace Luxembourg, the non-profit organisation’s branch headquartered in Esch-sur-Alzette and celebrating its 40th anniversary in the Grand Duchy this year, reported on news of an Austrian technical opinion concerning the 1300 MWe nuclear reactors located in France.
While the High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety (HCTISN) is organising a public consultation on the extension of the life of nuclear power plants in France, Austria published a technical opinion on the French consultation process at the end of July, questioning the generic requirements for the extension of the operation of French 1300 MW reactors.
According to this opinion, significant consequences for Austria cannot be ruled out in the event of a major accident at a French nuclear power plant - a scenario that would require strict intervention measures in Austria. Greenpeace added that incident factors include external influences and natural hazards such as earthquakes or floods, extreme external impacts (particularly plane crash scenarios), design deficits and lack of redundancies, or an incomplete core meltdown stabilisation system.
Greenpeace noted that it has already repeatedly criticised the risks associated with extending the life of France's 1300 MWe reactors, particularly at the Cattenom nuclear power plant. Reactor 1 is set to reach its initial life of 40 years in 2026, an operating life that the Électricité de France (EDF) hopes to extend. A recent Greenpeace study highlighted that the technical improvements and planned upgrades are “not enough to remedy these major safety flaws”, the association concluded.
