The non-closure of the Fessenheim plant, where is the scam of the negotiations?

[chatelot16]

if one of the tanks of Fessenheim is dead it is logical to stop it ... there is not even discuss ... he has done his time, keep in working order the old reactor as long as it is enough to maintain them ... but when the indémable part one is weak there is even more need to discuss

if a flamanville tank has flaws must stop too but it is more serious! to get there there must be incompetence somewhere! and at this level incompetence is criminal!

[Obamot]

Not so sure it's just a matter of maintenance. There are phenomena known in the nuclear industry, against which nothing can be done, such as the migration of hydrogen atoms from the water of the primary circuit!

Incompetence is certainly not to be excluded, in the case of the EPR, it would be a manufacturing defect, the fact remains that the human being, with all his weaknesses (even if he has qualities ) is not capable of quite simply managing the nuclear industry! This added to the fact that the known materials do not have the expected strength, for all these reasons, it is dangerous to leave in service of "old power plants". Just as it is dangerous to fly with too old planes.

Because the evil is even more devious than it seems, physicists / chemists are trying to do their best, but they can not: even on the crown that should be the EPR:
http://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/decrypta ... fauts.html

fatigue resistance is severely tested in these environments and the masses present do not help the equation: steel (cracks and holes) concrete (crumbling, cracks, expansion of reinforcing bars, etc.). Steel can even become "brittle":

Security breaches
Today, none of the 17 nuclear power plants in Germany, could obtain an authorization.
Whether it is the absence of a protective envelope, boring electric generators or brittle steel: no German nuclear power station has the level of technical security required by the Federal Constitutional Court, nor from the scientific point of view, neither technically. Equipment installed thereafter and costing several million euros exchange nothing. If these plants were built today, none of them would get permission to operate because of obvious security breaches. "

Risks due to age
The longer a nuclear power plant is in operation, the less secure it is. Hardware, whether technical or electronic, has a limited life. Especially that of a nuclear power station. Tubes become brittle, controls fail, valves and pumps no longer work. Cracks grow, corrosion attacks metals. In the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant (Ohio / USA), a hole was formed in the 16cm steel armor thick of the reactor pressure vessel without being noticed. Only a thin stainless steel wall on the inside could prevent leakage. The older a nuclear power plant is, the more risky its operation. This is what can be seen in the statistics of the events subject to the obligation of illumination: all the old reactors, like those of Bibliset Brunsbüttel, are much more often cited than the most recent ones.

In-depth text: http://www.ews-schoenau.de/fileadmin/co ... aisons.pdf

As a civil engineering technician reinforced concrete and working in the prevention of risks, I confirm.

Some other examples:

"Europe could be faced with the most serious nuclear risk since Chernobyl because of the restart by Belgium of two old plants full of cracks."
http://www.tdg.ch/monde/europe/Deux-cen ... y/31347004

Cracks at the Mühleberg power plant
The company BKW (formerly Bernese Motor Forces) has decided to give up the indefinite exploitation of the plant, ie 10 years or more. She announced the end of the operation for 2019.
http://www.24heures.ch/suisse/Les-fissu ... y/27016357

A thousand holes on the tank of Beznau I
http://www.tdg.ch/suisse/millier-trous- ... y/15768339

A global problem:

Cracks in nuclear reactor vessels: a global problem
Thousands of cracks were again discovered in the Belgian reactor tanks Doel 3 and Tihange 2. Extremely worrying fact: these cracks can be due or aggravated by corrosion phenomena, common to all the reactors today in operation.

"Since mid-2012, the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactor vessels have been inspected following the discovery of micro-cracks (20 mm wide). The Belgian nuclear safety authority affirmed while these were cells that appeared during the melting of the steel in the vessel and did not threaten its performance. The reactors had even been restarted in May 2013 before any weakness was discovered. stronger than theoretically expected, leading to a new shutdown: nobody knows the behavior of a tank which contains cracks (hydrogen defects) and especially not its resistance to aging phenomena " said Michèle Rivasi **, head of the French delegation Greens / EFA in the European Parliament.

"The 13 last February, new smashing, two scientists announce that these cracks can be aggravated or even be due to the migration of hydrogen atoms of the water of the primary circuit. ”she added.

"Operator GDF Suez has declared that it is ready to sacrifice one of its reactors to carry out destructive tests. If these tests confirm the emergence and aggravation of cracks during "normal" use of a nuclear reactor vessel, then it becomes a global problem."

According to the director of the Belgian safety authority: "This could be a problem for the entire nuclear industry. The solution is to carry out extensive inspections of 430 nuclear reactors. "[1]

"The vessel is a fundamental element of nuclear safety. Whether suddenly or following a thermal shock during a "benign" shutdown, a vessel rupture can lead to the loss of coolant and lead to a nuclear accident with releases of radioelements and core meltdown. This is an beyond design basis event that was not considered during design! Remember that the reactor vessel and the reactor containment are the two elements that cannot physically be replaced."also said MEP.

And to conclude: "The Belgian reactors of Doel 3 and Tihange 2 have respectively 33 and 32 years. In France, more than 24 reactors have already exceeded this period of use. The Nuclear Safety Authority must demand from EDF a total and in-depth inspection of all tanks in the French nuclear fleet. If the origin of the Belgian cracks by aging is confirmed, then it is necessary to completely review the policy of extension of the plants beyond the 30 years and this on a worldwide scale. On the eve of the commemorations of the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, it is an absolute necessity."

** Michèle RIVASI (MEP, founder of CRIIRAD, head of the French delegation of the Verts / ALE Group)

[1] http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/binnenland/1.2238955

And it does not date from yesterday, extract from Science & Vie n ° 746, from November 1979.

We learn that there are cracks in some vital parts of French nuclear power plants.

The first cracks were discovered more than a year ago by a worker at the Framatome plant in Chatou-sur-Saône, in the steel plate that forms the base of the steam generator. Through this plate pass some 3400 tubes of the primary circuit, carrying the radioactive water from the heart, whose heat vaporizes the water of the secondary circuit which then rotates the turbine. The sealing of this plate is therefore essential to safety since a crack at this level allows the radioactivity to leak outwardly through the secondary circuit. This steel plate is protected from corrosion by welding an alloy layer, the iconel. Fearing that he had missed his welding, the Framatome worker had removed the iconel coat to start again. It was then that he discovered that the steel was streaked with long, deep cracks of about six millimeters. Where did they come from? Shock inflicted on the metal by the welding operation. But then should not we fear that, under their beautiful protection of iconel, other plates, on other steam generators, are they also cracked? Checks are made. Other cracks are discovered.

And last spring, we detect new ones, in an even more sensitive part of the reactor: in the pipes which ensure the junction between the primary circuit and the reactor core, and which, moreover, support, in suspension, the 400 tons of the reactor itself. There is a layer of stainless steel that is applied by welding. And again, it is the weld that causes the cracks.

Controls, meetings, exchanges of notes between Framatome and the security services of the Ministry of Industry and the CEA: the unions finally get wind of the case. They are disturbed by the fact that at Tricastin, Gravelines and Dampierre, three completed reactors are waiting for their fueling to start. Will they be started despite the possible existence of cracks? September 21, the CFDT publicly raises the issue to the Minister of Industry. As a result, the CGT made known the letter she had quietly addressed a few days earlier to the management of EDF.

Minister André Giraud and EDF management do not deny the existence of cracks, but claim that they are "superficial defects that do not present a risk to the exploitation". Trade unionists believe that they do not know the evolution of these cracks over time. Above all, they point out that in the pipes especially "they weaken an essential part of the nuclear reactor which, therefore, might not be able to withstand an accident whose cause would be elsewhere". However, the current design of nuclear power plants totally excludes the hypothesis of a rupture of the tank. This accident was [estimated] so unlikely that no parry was planned.

The risk of cracks concerns about twenty reactors of 900 megawatts, some under construction, the others already installed on their site. This does not prevent the Minister of Industry to give the order in early October to begin the loading of the plants of Gravelines and Tricastin. Decision to which EDF management has decided to stay for additional verifications. In fact, program officials take the problem more seriously than they say. But recoil before two obstacles: the extra cost and the time lost. Indeed, most cracks are detectable only if the layer of stainless steel is removed. And some are inaccessible to exams when the reactor is mounted on its site. Should we "peel" all the tanks and plates, disassemble the reactors ready to start? True security would require it. At the cost of a new delay in the nuclear power program. French officials preferred to keep the secret and then display optimism. This did not prevent them from asking the CEA to develop "in situ" examination methods and to invent a robot for possible repairs. Dangerous flight ahead. Because it is not sure that one will be able to detect the cracks, or especially to repair them, when the pipes will have been heavily contaminated by the operation of the reactor. As for the plants already in operation at Bugey and Fessenheim, they may not have cracks because they have benefited from a safer welding process, but more expensive energy, which involves a preheating of the fuel. 'steel. The director of Fessenheim wanted to reassure by saying that the recent revision of his plant revealed only "superficial defects". No doubt it is other defects! Because the current means of investigation do not allow him to know what is happening under the stainless steel layer, in the pipes of Fessenheim.

[Did67]

The fact that no tank can contain a nuclear reaction that is racing is not the subject.

Here, what is at issue is the fact that a certain number of tanks installed in a certain number of power plants do not operate in France, do not comply, that their conformity tests have been "hacked" during manufacture. And that they could drop in normal operation! Exactly, that because of this non-conformity, we do not know ...

[Obamot]

Yes, that's what the Germans said too, all these problems are related (it's in the first quote I posted, but maybe I've extended the topic to causes that can make that a plant is no longer in compliance.)

[Did67]

The Germans especially had a very bad experience of the fact that a fairly serious incident, in Fessenheim, one or two years ago, was seriously minimized. According to the Germans, a reactor was "out of control" for a short time! And the French authorities have reported it as a rather trivial incident.

http://www.energiezukunft.eu/ueber-den- ... -gn103921/

http://www.zeit.de/wissen/2016-03/fesse ... ss-reaktor

Unfortunately, these poor Germans are not used to our "culture of lies" in nuclear matters! They thought the reports were genuine ...

[Gaston]

Unfortunately, these poor Germans are not used to our "culture of lies" in nuclear matters! They thought the reports were genuine ...

Like VolksWagen pollution tests

You shouldn't be too angelic either, the German "poor" know very well how to lie when it suits them.

[Christophe]

He said "in nuclear matters" ... and I can sense a little irony in his tone

[Obamot]

Unfortunately, these poor Germans are not used to our "culture of lies" in nuclear matters! They thought the reports were genuine ...

Like VolksWagen pollution tests

You shouldn't be too angelic either, the German "poor" know very well how to lie when it suits them.

He did not lie "they made sure to accommodate themselves with the regulations... Moreover, it would seem that regulation would be stupid because it would pollute more thanthe house setting'which would consume the fuel better and release less of the otherwise more toxic gases). And it is a fault of "restricted"which acted like free electrons"wanting to please their superiors", at the top of the hierarchical pyramid we knew nothing, I am ready to swear it like Jancovici
(raise your left hand and say "I swear") ...

[Christophe]

it would pollute more than 'home tuning' which would consume the fuel better and reject less otherwise toxic gases

Oh yeah? How can we pollute less by polluting more?

Without laughing I would like to see the source of "it seems that" ...

[Obamot]

Pollute more to earn more

PS: yes I will look for what gas it is and give the links.