Name of the Project
Flamanville 3 European pressurised reactor (EPR) project.

Location
Normandy, France.

Project Owner/s
Électricité de France (EDF).

Project Description
The Flamanville EPR is the first nuclear power station to be built in France in the past 15 years and the first third-generation-type plant. The nuclear plant will have a net electricity output of 1 650 MWe.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
The project has been beset by cost increases. In October 2019, EDF said the necessary repairs to the reactor's main secondary system penetration welds would further increase the cost of constructing the Flamanville EPR, from an estimated €10.5-billion to €12.4-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction work began in December 2007.

A decree, signed in March 2020, extended the deadline for the first fuel loading by four years to 2024.

Latest Developments
France's nuclear safety regulator, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire, has decided to allow for the current reactor vessel head of the Flamanville 3 EPR to be used until the end of the reactor's first operating cycle, scheduled for between 15 and 18 months after its commissioning.

Flamanville 3 is scheduled to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2024. EDF must replace the vessel head by the end of 2024. The postponement will avoid a shutdown of the reactor in 2024 to replace the cover, the new one of which is being manufactured by Framatome and due for delivery in the second half of 2024.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Areva (nuclear steam supply system), Bouygues (civil work) and Alstom (turbine island).

Contact Details for Project Information
EDF, tel +33 1 40 42 46 37 or email service-de-presse@edf.fr.