EDF has had to reduce production at one of the nuclear reactors at its Saint-Alban (Isère) power plant due to a low flow of the Rhone, while drought threatens France, the company said on Monday.
EDF lowers the power of a reactor
The power of one of the two 1,300 MW reactors of the plant (number 1) was lowered to 260 MW “for five hours” on Saturday and “occasional decreases (…) were also made for a few hours” on Sunday and Monday, the press service of the company told AFP.
This was done in order to “respect the regulations concerning thermal discharges due to the flow of the Rhône”. “These maneuvers are carried out in agreement with the manager of the national electricity network and have no impact on the safety of the facilities,” said EDF, noting that the reactor No. 2 of the plant continued at full power.
Nuclear reactors pump water from rivers or seas for cooling, and discharge heated water, subject to temperature limits to preserve aquatic biodiversity.
Increasingly low power levels
According to Météo France, a serious drought is threatening France. The country experienced a particularly hot and dry spring. The summer will probably also be hot and dry.
In April, the latest summary of the situation in the Rhone-Mediterranean hydrological basin from the Water France information service noted that “the deficit in precipitation recorded in recent months has resulted in overall deficit flows throughout the basin”.
At the beginning of May, in the middle of an early heat wave, EDF made a similar power reduction for a few hours. It concerned the Blayais power plant (Gironde, on the banks of the Garonne).
EDF puts it into perspective
EDF sometimes reduces the power of its reactors – or even shuts them down – to preserve the temperature of the rivers. Nevertheless, these decreases usually occurred during summer heat waves.
EDF puts its significance into perspective, pointing out that in France, production losses due to high river temperatures have represented 0.3% of annual nuclear production since 2000.
While President Emmanuel Macron intends to revive the industry, opponents of nuclear power point to these events. This is the case of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who saw in it the questioning of the argument that nuclear energy would be more regular than renewable energy.
