4 ms·

In an other article is mentioned that the new reactors will have 300MW capacity, so 6 new reactors will replace 2 old ones that are due to be shut down.

cl0ckt0wer 5y ago
Maybe making a bunch of smaller ones is cheaper/faster/safer?
- maeln 5y ago
  Yes it's the plan. The idea is to use small and modular reactor. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/pourquoi-les-mini-reacteurs-nucleaires-modulaires-ont-presque-tout-pour-plaire-a-emmanuel-macron.N1147887 https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/pourquoi-les-mini-re...
- emn13 5y ago
  From the article: "Macron’s proposed six new “mini-reactors” run on technology that is billed to be less powerful but also less complex to produce and run than conventional reactors. Industry analysts say they help to keep France’s industrial competitiveness given that prototypes are already being developed in China, Russia, the US and Japan."
- phtrivier 5y ago
  According to this [1], the strategy is twofold: * replace the oldest massive plants with EPRs (hoping that the construction of the next ones will be less chaotic than the first two in England and Northen France) to maintain domestic production capacity * build expertise on small modular reactors for exports and additional capacity where it make sense. And interesting challenge will be to make SMRs safe enough to sell them to "post-developing" countries without any experience of nuclear-monitoring. Also, the whole "nuclear is both a long term matter that requires multi-decade planning AND an electoral hot-button in France that is sure to split the country in two unreconcilable block every five years" thing. [1]: https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/10/07/nucleaire-les-mini-centrales-un-projet-d-exportation-pour-la-france_6097491_3244.html https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/10/07/nucleaire-...
_n_b_ 5y ago
France’s oldest operating reactors are in the 900 MWe range, so more like 3. Their newer fleet is 1300 and 1450 (now 1500) MWe, plus the 1600 MWe EPR under construction at Flamanville. The 300 MWe NuWard really only makes sense as an export product, even if they build a couple in France. Framatome and EDF are working on an EPR-2 that is meant to be more efficient and inexpensive to build, and I hope that means it will be a bit scaled down from the EPR, which is frankly too large for many electric grids, and takes far too long to construct.
yodelshady 5y ago
Makes a sort of sense. No one in the private sector has much faith that any decade-long giga-reactor project (in the West) will come to fruition, let alone the multiple projects needed to leverage assembly-line economies. A rejigged submarine reactor already has those economies, and might have a better chance of producing profit within five years.

cl0ckt0wer 5y ago

Maybe making a bunch of smaller ones is cheaper/faster/safer?

maeln 5y ago
Yes it's the plan. The idea is to use small and modular reactor. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/pourquoi-les-mini-reacteurs-nucleaires-modulaires-ont-presque-tout-pour-plaire-a-emmanuel-macron.N1147887 https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/pourquoi-les-mini-re...
emn13 5y ago
From the article: "Macron’s proposed six new “mini-reactors” run on technology that is billed to be less powerful but also less complex to produce and run than conventional reactors. Industry analysts say they help to keep France’s industrial competitiveness given that prototypes are already being developed in China, Russia, the US and Japan."
phtrivier 5y ago
According to this [1], the strategy is twofold: * replace the oldest massive plants with EPRs (hoping that the construction of the next ones will be less chaotic than the first two in England and Northen France) to maintain domestic production capacity * build expertise on small modular reactors for exports and additional capacity where it make sense. And interesting challenge will be to make SMRs safe enough to sell them to "post-developing" countries without any experience of nuclear-monitoring. Also, the whole "nuclear is both a long term matter that requires multi-decade planning AND an electoral hot-button in France that is sure to split the country in two unreconcilable block every five years" thing. [1]: https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/10/07/nucleaire-les-mini-centrales-un-projet-d-exportation-pour-la-france_6097491_3244.html https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/10/07/nucleaire-...

_n_b_ 5y ago

France’s oldest operating reactors are in the 900 MWe range, so more like 3. Their newer fleet is 1300 and 1450 (now 1500) MWe, plus the 1600 MWe EPR under construction at Flamanville. The 300 MWe NuWard really only makes sense as an export product, even if they build a couple in France. Framatome and EDF are working on an EPR-2 that is meant to be more efficient and inexpensive to build, and I hope that means it will be a bit scaled down from the EPR, which is frankly too large for many electric grids, and takes far too long to construct.

yodelshady 5y ago

Makes a sort of sense. No one in the private sector has much faith that any decade-long giga-reactor project (in the West) will come to fruition, let alone the multiple projects needed to leverage assembly-line economies. A rejigged submarine reactor already has those economies, and might have a better chance of producing profit within five years.