Edf: Update on the Flamanville EPR: launch of reactor divergence operations
02 Settembre 2024 - 8:30PM
UK Regulatory
Edf: Update on the Flamanville EPR: launch of reactor divergence
operations
A Update on the Flamanville EPR: launch
of reactor divergence operations
2 September 2024 – The Nuclear Safety
Authority issued EDF with the divergence agreement to proceed with
divergence operations on the Flamanville 3 reactor. The power
plant's teams launch the activities required for the first nuclear
reaction in the reactor.
After loading the reactor last May, Flamanville
EPR teams carried out numerous technical tests and put the
facilities into the required conditions to initiate nuclear
fission.
Divergence will involve creating a stable nuclear reaction at very
low power. Once completed, the reactor will be at 0.2% of its rated
power.
A test programme to achieve a power level of 25%
will be implemented. Once at this level, the Flamanville EPR will
be connected to the national electricity grid for the first time
and will generate electricity. This first connection is scheduled
before the end of autumn 2024.
Testing will continue throughout reactor
ramp-up, which will be carried out in successive stages over
several months.
Divergence: how is a chain reaction
initiated?
The boron1 in
the primary system's water and the reactor's
control2 rods absorb the neutrons from
the nuclear fuel (uranium) present in the reactor vessel.
Divergence will be achieved by reducing the boron concentration in
the primary system's water, then gradually lifting the reactor
core's control rods. When neutron production is higher than
absorption, divergence will be achieved and the
chain3 reaction will start. The chain
reaction's intensity and thus the reactor's power will be
controlled by the control rods and the boron.
1 Boron is an element which can absorb neutrons produced by
nuclear reactions.
2 The control rods are made of materials that absorb neutrons.
3 A neutron is projected onto the nucleus of a uranium atom. When
it breaks, it releases several neutrons which in turn are projected
onto other nuclei (see motion design). This is the chain reaction
that produces heat in the reactor.
- PR Update on the Flamanville EPR
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