France’s newest nuclear reactor, plagued by massive delays and cost overruns, shut itself down automatically Wednesday just a day after starting up for the first time.
The European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) in Flamanville, Normandy is going through a “long and complex startup process requiring many trials and tests, and that can induce shutdowns like this,” a spokeswoman for state-owned energy giant EDF told AFP.
The shutdown “proves the safety system is working well,” she added, saying that staff were now “doing the necessary technical checks and analysis… then they will restart the reactor”.
EDF’s latest reactor, supposed to be the model for a new generation of power plants pushed by President Emmanuel Macron for the coming decades, has been completed 12 years late at a cost of 13.2 billion euros ($14.6 billion) — around four times the 3.3 billion initially budgeted.
Reactors of the same design have previously been completed …