Valencia (AFP)

The reactors of the Cruas nuclear power plant (Ardèche) will be stopped "in the coming hours" for a "thorough audit", following the earthquake that occurred Monday in the Rhone valley said the prefect of the Drôme, Hugues Moutouh.

"The vibration seismic threshold triggered an alarm on only one of the five sensors on the site, no damage to the buildings was found, and the facilities are functioning normally," said the prefect at a press conference.

However, "in accordance with the safety and precautionary procedure established by the operator, a shutdown of the reactors will occur in the next hours, to allow a thorough audit of the facilities," he added.

The earthquake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, hit Le Teil (Ardèche), about ten kilometers from the Cruas nuclear power station and about thirty kilometers from the Tricastin site (Drôme), which This group includes a nuclear power plant and Orano (formerly Areva) nuclear fuel treatment plants.

The Nuclear Safety Agency (ASN) had previously assured that the earthquake had caused "no apparent damage" to these sites, but asked EDF to check whether the values ​​recorded exceeded the thresholds from which a further examination of facilities, requiring the shutdown of the reactors, is necessary.

"ASN will examine the conditions under which (the) reactors will be able to restart" in Cruas, she said in a briefing note Monday evening. A spokeswoman told AFP that the shutdown of the reactors could last "a few days", depending on what one will find or not.

On the other hand, the Tricastin nuclear power plant, furthest from the epicenter of the earthquake, should not be stopped, as no warning threshold has been measured there, added the ASN.

As for the site Orano Tricastin, "some facilities have been temporarily stopped, not for reasons of safety," said the institution.

In a tweet, the network "Sortir du nucléaire" pointed out that the magnitude of this earthquake was greater than the "increased safety earthquake" of 5.2 for which the Tricastin and Cruas power stations were built.

"It is urgent to stop these plants before a serious accident occurs," he adds.

The director of nuclear power plants at ASN, Rémy Catteau, for his part observed that it is necessary to take into consideration the acceleration of the soil felt on the spot, and not the measured magnitude at the epicenter.

© 2019 AFP