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. These reactors were named EDF1, EDF2, EDF3 and were later renamed into Chinon-A1, Chinon-A2, Chinon-A3. Four of the first French PWR series were later built on the site (Chinon-B1, Chinon-B2, Chinon-B3, Chinon-B4). The site has four cooling towers, specially 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://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- http://www.geniustour.com/en/pages/detail.php?j=Nuclear-Museum-of-Chinon
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Power plant reactors |
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Research, experimental, prototype reactors and concepts |
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- CEA Cadarache
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- Institut Laue–Langevin (Grenoble)
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and opposition
- Accidents and incidents
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- Death of Sébastien Briat
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- Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire
- Sortir du nucléaire
- Nuclear power in France
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