The heat wave also has very concrete consequences on the operation of nuclear power plants, which consume large amounts of water. A temporary derogation from environmental rules has therefore been requested and granted by the authorities to allow three nuclear power plants to continue to operate during the heat wave, EDF and RTE said on Friday. This request was filed on July 12 by the electricity producer at the request of RTE, the high-voltage network manager, in order to guarantee the operation of the infrastructures, and this while 29 out of 56 nuclear reactors are currently unavailable for various reasons.
Since 2006, each power plant has had regulatory water discharge temperature limits that must not be exceeded, so as not to overheat the surrounding waterways and to protect their fauna and flora. The power plants indeed pump water to cool the reactors, before rejecting it. The regulations, however, provide for possible requests for temporary exemption on certain sites, “if necessary for the proper functioning of the electricity network”, underlines EDF.
The request for exemption was made to the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), which gave its agreement, and to the Ministry of Energy Transition, for a period up to August 8 inclusive, against a backdrop of a heat wave. intense in France.
No supply risk
This derogation concerns the Golfech (Tarn-et-Garonne), Blayais (Gironde) and Saint-Alban (Isère) power plants. It aims to “guarantee the proper functioning of the electricity network which requires the availability at all times of means of production capable of adjusting to the demand for electricity”, explains EDF.
According to RTE however, “there is no risk concerning the electricity supply of the French and this demand is not linked to electricity consumption”. “It’s not a safety issue. This exceptional device relates to the protection of the environment”, more precisely the temperature authorized for the discharges of water in the river bordering the power station, indicate the two organizations.
In practice, the derogation mechanism has so far only been used once, in 2018 for the Golfech plant, for 36 hours. This “is accompanied by enhanced environmental monitoring”, adds EDF.