Publication Laka-library:
French 900 MWe nuclear power plants
| Author | EdF |
| Date | October 1981 |
| Classification | 2.02.9.90/10 (FRANCE - OTHER FACILITIES) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
THE FRENCH NUCLEAR PROGRAM After the reactors constructed at MARCOULE by the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), in operation since 1959, ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE (EdF) undertook the construction of nuclear units at the end of 1956 on a site on the banks of the Loire, near CHINON. There are three units of French technology (a graphite- moderated reactor cooled by C02 gas and using natural uranium as fuel) on this site; the first unit was decommissioned in April 1973; the two others, one using a steel reactor vessel and the other using for the first time a prestressed concrete pressure vessel containing the reactor core, are still in operation. Then an improvement was achieved with the two units of ST LAURENT DES EAUX by positioning the reactor core above the steam generators inside the prestressed concrete pressure vessel; this design was also used for the VANDELLOS nuclear power plant (SPAIN). Using the same technique and a new annular fuel element, the first unit at BUGEY (on the banks of the Rhone) was commissioned in April 1972. In order to diversify its know-how, EdF participated during this period in two realizations: the first with the CEA in a 70-MWe gas-cooled, heavy-water-moderated reactor in Brittany (MONTS D' ARREE) and the second with a Belgian utility in a PWR (Westinghouse) unit at CHOOZ. In spite of the research conducted by the CEA on French technology, it was clear that the specific thermal power produced by this kind of reactor was limited to about 6 MW/t U and, also, that the size of a unit could not easily exceed 600 MWe; furthermore, an economic comparison between the graphite gas technology and the light water technology was in favor of the latter. For these reasons, the French Government decided, in November 1969, to stop the development of French technology and to adopt the light water reactor technology. Before this decision, EdF participated, with a Belgian utility, in the studies and, then, in the construction and the operation of the first unit of TIHANGE in Belgium, the first European 900MWe PWR. During the meeting of September 25th, 1970, the EdF Board of Directors decided, after a national invitation to tender, to order a 900 MWe PWR nuclear steam supply system from FRAMATOME, Westinghouse licencee, and the corresponding turbine generator set from ALSTHOM for the site of FESSENHEIM (on the banks of the Rhine). The principle of pairing the nuclear units having been also adopted, the second unit for this site was ordered in November 1971 and the units for the site of BUGEY in October 1971 (for the first pair) and September 1973 (for the second pair).
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