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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2013
An
Evolutionary
Plant
Progress
EDF has completed the installation
of the dome on the reactor building of the
Flamanville EPR, marking a symbolic
milestone of its construction.
A handling operation on such an
exceptional scale required one of the
most powerful cranes in the world. At
200 metres high (twice the height of the
Statue of Liberty), “Big Benny” has the
power to lift the dome of the Flamanville
EPR reactor building, which weighs 260
metric tons (286 American tons) and has
a diameter of 43 metres (141 feet). The
structure will be guaranteed leaktight by
welding around the entire circumference
of the dome, which will then be clad with
7,000 metric tons (7,716 American tons)
of concrete to boost its strength.
The dome has been fitted by
Bouygues Construction, the company
in charge of the civil engineering works
for the Flamanville EPR. The operation
has required a 4 months preparation and
involved 30 employees from Bouygues
Construction.
The Flamanville EPR construction
site is entering its final phase, with 95%
of civil engineering work completed,
along with 46% of electrical and
mechanical installation work complete.
Now that the dome has been installed, the
heavy components of the nuclear steam
supply system (steam generators, reactor
vessel, pressurizer, etc.) will be installed
inside the reactor building over the next
few months. The first half of 2013 has
already seen the first electrical tests and
the installation of steam piping inside the
turbine building, as well as the installation
of the first instrumentation and control
(I&C) cabinets that will eventually
be used for controlling, monitoring,
protecting and operating the EPR.
Hervé Machenaud, Group Senior
Executive Vice-President - Generation &
Engineering, said: “Everybody involved
in this demanding construction site is
proud of what has been achieved to date.
It marks an important milestone for the
future.”
As architect engineer, EDF is
overseeing the construction of the nuclear
power plant, the first to be built in France
for some 15 years. The EPR is scheduled
to start producing electricity in 2016 and
will have a capacity of 1,650 MW, enough
to supply power to 1.5 million people.
Work at the Flamanville EPR site,
which commenced inDecember 2007, has
involved the full spectrum of stakeholders
in the French nuclear industry, with peak
personnel levels on site rising to 3,200
people in 2012 (including 60% regional
workers, 2,600 employees of external
contractors, and 600 EDF employees),
representing a total of five million hours
worked.Thismajor industrial construction
site has been subject to regular inspections
by the French Nuclear Safety Authority
(ASN) throughout the project.
Protecting the Environment
Protection of the site’s coastal
environment is provided by an optimally
engineered cooling circuit and by offshore
discharge tunnels designed to ensure
optimal dilution of thermal releases.
Additionally, in order to limit the
intake of fresh water, a desalination plant
is also being built on the site.
Moreover, the construction of an
additional reactor unit close to the two
existing units (Flamanville Unit 1 &
Unit 2) does not alter the terrestrial and
maritime coverage of a site that has
always been capable of accommodating
four reactor units.
The Energy Company
EDF Group, one of the leaders in the
European energy market, is an integrated
energy company active in all areas of
the business: generation, transmission,
distribution, energy supply and trading.
The Group is the leading electricity
producer in Europe. In France, it has
mainlynuclearandhydropowergeneration
facilities, where 95.9% of the electricity
output is CO
2
-free. EDF’s transmission
and distribution subsidiaries in France
operate 1,285,000 km (798,461 miles)
of low and medium voltage overhead
and underground electricity lines and
around 100,000 km (62,137 miles) of
high and very high voltage networks. The
Group is involved in supplying energy
and services to approximately 28.6
million customers in France. The Group
generated consolidated sales of 72.7
billion in 2012, of which 46.2% was from
outside of France. EDF is listed on the
Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of
the CAC 40 index.
Contact: Jill Coulombez, telephone:
33 40 42 24 25.
Installation of the dome on the reactor building.
