EDF is to extend the operational life of its 1,300 MWe nuclear reactors after receiving approval from the Authority for Nuclear Safety & Radiation Protection (ASNR – L’Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire et de Radioprotection).
ASNR will establish specific safety requirements for each reactor during its 40-year inspection, and EDF must submit annual progress reports to demonstrate compliance. The decision affects 20 reactors within EDF’s 56-reactor fleet, with design life concluding between 2026 and 2040. All EDF’s plants today are pressurised water reactors (PWRs) developed by Framatome (now Areva) from an initial Westinghouse design.
In France, authorisation to create a nuclear installation is issued by the Government, after advice from ASNR. This authorisation has no time limit but an in-depth “periodic review” of the installation is carried out every 10 years to assess its conditions for the continued operation for the following 10 years. The fourth periodic review is of particular importance given the 40-year design life of the reactor. Continued operation requires updating design studies and/or replacing equipment.
EDF operates four pressurised water reactor designs – 900 MWe, 1,300 MWe, the 1,450 MWe N4 and the 1,620 MWe EPR. The 32 operating 900 MWe reactors, which came into commercial operation between 1977 and 1988, were authorised for extended operation in 2021. In 2023, Tricastin unit 1 became the first reactor licensed to operate beyond 40 years. The 20 1,300 MWe units started up between 1985 and 1993; the four N4 reactors between 1984 and 1991; and the Flamanville 3 EPR was connected to the grid in December 2024.
The 20 1,300 MWe reactors include: Belleville-sur-Loire 1&2; Cattenom 1-4; Flamanville 1&2; Golfech 1&2; Nogent-sur-Seine 1&2; Paluel 1-4; Penly 1&2; and Saint-Alban/Saint-Maurice 1&2.
In its decision, ASNR prescribes the major safety improvements required by EDF, as well as additional provisions that it considers necessary to achieve the objectives of the review. This closes the “generic” phase of the review, which concerns studies and modifications to installations common to all 1300 MWe reactors. The provisions planned by EDF as part of the generic phase were the subject of a national consultation in 2024. ASNR requirements will then be broken down reactor by reactor, during and the particularities of each installation will be taken into account. The review report for each reactor will be the subject of a public inquiry. Work will last until 2040.
ASNR asks EDF to report annually on the actions implemented to meet the requirements and their deadlines, as well as on its industrial capacity and that of its subcontractors to carry out modifications to the installations on time. This annual report must be made public.
According to Reuters. EDF plans to invest €6bn ($7bn) in extending life of the 20 nuclear reactors. President Emmanuel Macron has prioritised boosting France’s nuclear capacity, by extending the lifespan of existing facilities and constructing at least six new reactors in the coming decades.
