Chinon Nuclear Power Plant
1 × 230 MW
1 × 480 MW
The Chinon Nuclear Power Plant (French: Centrale nucléaire de Chinon) is near the town of Avoine in the Indre et Loire département, on the river Loire[1] (approximately 10 km from the town of Chinon) in central France. The power station has seven reactors, of which three have been closed.
Operation
It employs approximately 1,350 full-time workers. The operator is Électricité de France (EDF).
Performance
The site houses three of the first generation of French plants, of UNGG-type (similar to the Magnox design), which have now closed. Four of the first French PWR series were later built on the site. The site has four cooling towers, designed to be low-profile in order to minimise the visual impact on the Loire.
It is larger than most French plants and feeds approximately 6% of French electricity demand.
Events
- During the unusually cold 1986-87 winter, the water intake from the river, as well as several other important pieces of equipment and machinery, froze.
- On 21 December 2005, sand accumulated inside the tertiary cooling circuit, threatening to block it. This could have stopped cooling of all the reactors.
- On 4 September 2008, some industrial oil was accidentally discharged to the river in a maintenance operation. It was not radioactively contaminated.
- On 30 April 2009, a bomb alert caused an evacuation of the plant and an intervention by several units of army security forces.
- On 10 February 2024, France's EDF shut down two nuclear reactors due to a fire at the plant.[2]
Other info
- Since 1986, the closed Chinon A1 reactor has been redeveloped to hold the French Atom Museum.
- The INTRA (INTervention Robotic on Accidents) group, a national nuclear event emergency intervention group equipped with remotely guided, radiation hardened machinery, has its headquarters at the plant.
Reactors
Unit | Type | Net power | Total power | Construction start | Construction finish | Commercial operation | Shut down |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinon A1 | UNGG | 70 MW | 80 MW | 01.02.1957 | 14.06.1963 | 01.02.1964 | 16.04.1973 |
Chinon A2 | UNGG | 210 MW | 230 MW | 01.08.1959 | 24.02.1965 | 24.02.1965 | 14.06.1985 |
Chinon A3 | UNGG | 480 MW | 480 MW | 01.03.1961 | 04.08.1966 | 04.08.1966 | 15.06.1990 |
Chinon B1 | PWR | 905 MW | 954 MW | 01.03.1977 | 30.11.1982 | 01.02.1984 | Qualified to operate until 2024 |
Chinon B2 | PWR | 905 MW | 954 MW | 01.03.1977 | 29.11.1983 | 01.08.1984 | Qualified to operate until 2024 |
Chinon B3 | PWR | 905 MW | 954 MW | 01.10.1980 | 20.10.1986 | 04.03.1987 | Qualified to operate until 2027 |
Chinon B4 | PWR | 905 MW | 954 MW | 01.02.1981 | 14.11.1987 | 01.04.1988 | Qualified to operate until 2028 |
See also
References
External links
- http://www.geniustour.com/en/pages/detail.php?j=Nuclear-Museum-of-Chinon
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Closed |
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Power plant reactors |
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Research, experimental, prototype reactors and concepts |
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- CEA Cadarache
- CEA Fontenay-aux-Roses
- CEA Grenoble
- Institut Laue–Langevin (Grenoble)
- CEA Marcoule (Marcoule, Pierrelatte)
- CEA Saclay
- Meuse/Haute Marne Underground Research Laboratory (Andra)
- Tricastin Nuclear Site (Bollène, Lapalud, Pierrelatte, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux)
- ANCCLI
- Andra
- Areva
- Naval Group (formerly DCNS)
- ASN
- CEA
- Électricité de France (EDF)
- Framatome (formerly Areva NP)
- Orano
- Orano Cycle (formerly COGEMA and Areva NC)
and opposition
- Accidents and incidents
- Anti-nuclear movement in France
- 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood
- Death of Sébastien Briat
- André Larivière
- Corinne Lepage
- Stéphane Lhomme
- Mycle Schneider
- Monique Sené
- Dominique Voynet
- Yves Marignac
- Solange Fernex
- CRIIRAD
- Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire
- Sortir du nucléaire
- Nuclear power in France
- Nuclear power stations in France
- Nuclear technology in France