2024-02-07 16:00:27
Model of a Nuward site NUWARD/EDF
To justify the contested nuclear governance reform project, which will be debated on Wednesday February 7 and Thursday February 8 in the Senate, the government highlights the unprecedented workload that is expected in the coming decades. Extension of the lifespan of reactors, construction of new EPRs, waste storage in Bure (Meuse), adaptation to climate change… Among the numerous files on the table of safety organizations, that of the announced development of small modular reactors (small modular reactors, SMR) and innovative also weigh in the balance. A project which poses, for the future, new questions.
In addition to the construction of new “large” reactors, the executive is banking heavily on the deployment of small units. It has put a billion euros on the table for the development of the sector, as part of the France 2030 program, and included in its energy-climate strategy project the objective of launching at least one SMR prototype by at the end of the decade.
As it stands, the sector brings together a wide range of projects. On one side is the Nuward project, supported by EDF, a power plant designed using the same technology as that of the current park, but smaller in size (340 megawatts, compared to 1,600 megawatts for the future Flamanville EPR). On the other, very small reactors with a capacity of a few megawatts, operating using different technologies. For everyone, the idea is to eventually be able to build them in series and in the factory, so that the economic model is profitable.
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On paper, these small reactors can constitute an asset in terms of safety. “Inherently, the fact that the reactors are smaller brings advantages, explains Julien Collet, deputy director general of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). The heart is easier to cool. There is promising potential, but it must be translated into design and remains to be demonstrated. »
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In July 2023, EDF submitted a safety options file concerning Nuward, on which the ASN must decide in 2025. His project is based on a concept of passive safety – the residual power can be evacuated without the need for pumps and electricity to run them – which should make it possible to simplify construction. “Talking about passive safety may be reassuring to the public, but from a technological or probability point of view, there is no inherent advantage to passive safety over active safetyspecifies Renaud Crassous, president of Nuward, a subsidiary of EDF. And we have no feedback. »
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