Europe 1 with AFP 3:15 p.m., August 05, 2022

Due to the high temperatures, several EDF nuclear reactors had to revise their production downwards.

In question, in particular, the warming of the rivers, used for the cooling of these reactors.

These reduced productions are however commonplace in the summer period. 

Several EDF nuclear reactors have been forced to lower their production due to the high temperatures of the rivers used for their cooling, the company said on Friday.

"The current exceptional climatic conditions result in a rise in the temperature of the Garonne which has reached 28 degrees", indicates EDF.

“At the request of the national electricity network operator (RTE), production unit no. 2 of the Golfech power plant remains in production (minimum power)”, continues the electricity producer.

This minimum power corresponds to approximately 300 MW, compared to 1,300 MW normally.

The second reactor of the plant located in Tarn-et-Garonne is for its part in scheduled shutdown.

Water discharge temperatures not to be exceeded

Each plant has its own regulatory water discharge temperature limits that must not be exceeded, so as not to heat up the surrounding waterways and to protect the fauna and flora.

The power plants indeed pump water to cool the reactors, before rejecting it.

>>

READ ALSO

- Renationalization of EDF: "A strategic and necessary decision", affirms Bruno Le Maire

The decrees setting the discharge limits also provide for higher thresholds "in exceptional climatic conditions", as is currently the case in Golfech.

In addition, temporary exemptions can further raise the thresholds, which has been granted to four nuclear power plants, including that of Bugey in Ain, while France is going through a new heatwave episode.

Frequent drops in production but which occur earlier this year

EDF had warned that it could be forced to lower its nuclear production in the coming days and even shut down a reactor at the Tricastin power plant in the Drôme due to high river temperatures.

Drops in production for these reasons occur regularly in the summer period, although this year they occurred much earlier than usual - as early as May.

The company nevertheless relativizes the scope of these events, stressing that since 2000, production losses have represented an average of 0.3% of the park's annual production.