3. Regulation and oversight of the safety of the Flamanville EPR reactor The EPR is a PWR using a design that has evolved from that of the reactors currently in operation in France. It meets reinforced safety objectives: reduction in the number of significant events, limitation of discharges, reduced volume and activity of waste, reduced individual and collective doses received by the workers (in normal operation and incident situations), reduced overall frequency of core melt, taking account of all types of failures and hazards and reduced radiological consequences of any accidents. In May 2006, EDF submitted a creation authorisation application to the Ministers responsible for nuclear safety and for radiation protection, for an EPR type reactor with a power of 1,650 MWe on the Flamanville site, which was already home to two 1,300 MWe reactors. The Government authorised its creation through Decree 2007‑534 of 10 April 2007, after a favourable opinion issued by ASN following the examination process. This Decree was modified in 2017 and in 2020, to extend the time allowed for commissioning of the reactor. After the issue of this Creation Authorisation Decree and the building permit, construction of the Flamanville EPR reactor began in September 2007. The first concrete was poured for the nuclear island buildings in December 2007. EDF plans to load fuel and start up the reactor in the first quarter of 2024. This schedule takes account of the time needed on the one hand to repair certain main primary system welds and, on the other, for the end of the assembly and testing operations. 3.1 Examination of the authorisation applications Examination of the commissioning authorisation application In March 2015, EDF sent ASN its commissioning authorisation application for the installation, including the safety analysis report, the RGEs, a study of the installation’s waste management, the PUI, the decommissioning plan and an update of the installation’s impact assessment. Following a preliminary examination, ASN considered that all the documents required by the regulations were officially present, but it decided that additional justifications were needed if ASN was to be able to reach a final decision on the commissioning authorisation application. ASN began the technical examination of the subjects for which most of the information was available, although it did submit some requests on certain points. In June 2017, ASN received updated versions of the commissioning authorisation files and in 2018 made requests for additional information, notably concerning the RGEs. ASN obtained the opinion of the GPR on 4 and 5 July 2018 concerning the safety analysis report for the Flamanville EPR reactor. This meeting was devoted in particular to the action taken following the previous GPR sessions devoted to this reactor since 2015. The Advisory Committee considered that the reactor’s safety case is on the whole satisfactory and points out that some additional information is still required concerning how the fire risk is addressed and the behaviour of the fuel rods which have Bugey 2 Bugey 3 Bugey 4 Bugey 5 Tricastin 1 Gravelines 1 Tricastin 2 Tricastin 3 Gravelines 2 Dampierre 1 Gravelines 3 Saint‑Laurent B1 Dampierre 2 Saint‑Laurent B2 Blayais 1 Dampierre 3 Tricastin 4 Gravelines 4 Dampierre 4 Blayais 2 Chinon B1 Cruas 1 Blayais 4 Blayais 3 Chinon B2 Cruas 3 Paluel 1 Cruas 2 Paluel 2 Gravelines 5 Cruas 4 Saint‑Alban 1 Paluel 3 Gravelines 6 Flamanville 1 Paluel 4 Saint‑Alban 2 Flamanville 2 Chinon B3 Cattenom 1 Cattenom 2 Nogent 1 Belleville 1 Chinon B4 Belleville 2 Nogent 2 Cattenom 3 Penly 1 Golfech 1 Cattenom 4 Penly 2 Golfech 2 Chooz B1 Chooz B2 Civaux 1 Civaux 2 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1993 1996 1997 1999 1,800 MWe 1,800 MWe 7,200 MWe 6,300 MWe 1,800 MWe 3,600 MWe 6,200 MWe 4,800 MWe 6,100 MWe 4,800 MWe 2,600 MWe 3,900 MWe 1,300 MWe 1,300 MWe 1,300 MWe 1,450 MWe 2,900 MWe 1,450 MWe Total power Date of 1st criticality Source: ASN. 1,300 MWe 1,450 MWe 900 MWe TIME-LINE OF FIRST CRITICALITY OF THE FRENCH NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS 312 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 • 10 • The EDF Nuclear Power Plants 10
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