They discover at the Penly nuclear power plant, in northern France, a major corrosion crack with a “leakage risk” in an emergency pipe, which would cool reactor number 1 in an emergency, reported the multinational Electricité de France (EDF). ).
The company indicated that, during an evaluation, a “significant stress corrosion defect” was detected in a weld that was installed in January in the reactor’s safety injection circuit, which had already been repaired twice.
Despite the fact that the affected line was considered by EDF as not susceptible to stress corrosion cracking, the company estimates that the double repair of the weld could have modified its mechanical and structural properties.
A significant flaw
As detailed by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the fissure measures 155 millimeters, the equivalent of about a quarter of the circumference of the pipe, and has a maximum depth of 23 mm, the thickness of the conduit being 27 mm, for so the risk of flight is imminent.
Likewise, during the inspections, cracks due to thermal fatigue were detected in the lines of the safety injection circuit of reactor 2 of the power plant, for which reason they were replaced.
This defect could cause the emergency system to not function correctly if necessary. However, the plant is designed to solve damages in these pipes.
“In case there was a leak, it would remain in the reactor building, a concrete building. Therefore, there is no impact on the surrounding populations. There are safety systems to bring the reactor to a safe state and cool its core,” Karine Herviou, deputy director general of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, told local media. with RT