another French nulear outage7 Feb 2023 16:35
Despite France’s efforts to overcome a months-long maintenance crisis of its troubled nuclear fleet, a critical reactor has suddenly been taken offline for most of the rest of this year.
A nine-month halt of Electricite de France SA’s Chinon-1 nuclear reactor raises questions about whether the state-backed nuclear operator will be a millstone around Europe’s neck next winter, too. France’s nuclear plants form a backbone of Europe’s integrated power system, and an outbreak of safety-related incidents and repair delays over the past year could not have hit at a worse time.
As a result, French nuclear generation slumped to the lowest in more than three decades in 2022, just as the region struggled with throttled gas shipments from Russia and soaring fuel and power prices. The hope was that EDF would get its fleet in order by the time the next winter comes around, with Europe likely to source even fewer gas supplies from Russia this year, and Germany putting its last remaining nuclear plants to rest in April.
However, Chinon-1 will only return to the grid by Oct. 30, after being halted early on Tuesday, according to the French utility ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-europe-energy-crisis-updates-france-nuclear-outage/?srnd=premium-europe&sref=Em01M8Hr