2023-06-01 00:31:39
Dunce cap for the nuclear power plant of Dampierre-en-Burly, located a few km downstream from Gien, on the right bank of the Loire. In its annual report, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) considers that its performance in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection “is well behind the national average”.
The year 2022 “was complicated, we noted a dozen level 1 events, one of the highest figures in France”, explains Arthur Neveu, head of the Orléans division of ASN, who points out ” organizational failures.
In particular, the teams detected damage “too late” or waited too long to apply corrective measures. Other problematic points, the management of periodic tests, intended to verify that the equipment works well, and maintenance. “In 2022, the plant had to shut down a reactor because equipment had broken,” continues the manager.
Aware of the difficulties
The nuclear policeman reacted by summoning the director of the site who was interviewed in April. In response, the plant, aware of the difficulties, presented an action plan which is already in place. In view of the measures taken, the nuclear safety authority decided not to place the plant “under enhanced surveillance”, but it planned a certain number of inspections to check whether the situation had actually improved.
The Dampierre-en-Burly power plant is one of four nuclear sites located on the course of the Loire, along with Belleville-sur-Loire, Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux and Chinon. It has four 900 MW nuclear reactors, commissioned in 1980 and 1981. The first two were shut down in 2021 and 2022 for their ten-year overhaul, which extends their operation for ten years, and reactor 3 will begin its own in next September.
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