A temporary derogation from environmental regulations has been granted to a fourth nuclear power plant, that of Bugey, in Ain, so that it can continue to operate “at a minimum level of power” during the heat wave, according to a decree published this Sunday in the Official diary.
The resolution of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) of July 15 is approved by which “temporarily set new thermal discharge limits applicable to the reactors of the Bugey nuclear power plant”, according to the Official Gazette .
On Friday, an exception had been granted to the nuclear power plants of Golfech (Tarn-et-Garonne), Blayais (Gironde) and Saint-Alban (Isère). For these three plants and the Bugey plant, authorization was granted until July 24.
Protect fauna and flora
These exception requests were submitted by the electricity producer at the request of RTE, the administrator of the high-voltage network, to guarantee the operation of the infrastructures, and this while 29 of the 56 French reactors are currently unavailable for various reasons.
Since 2006, each plant has its own regulatory limits for water discharge temperature that must not be exceeded, so as not to overheat the surrounding watercourses and protect its fauna and flora. In fact, power plants pump water to cool the reactors, before discharging it.
The exception device, which aims to guarantee the proper functioning of the electrical network, had only been used once so far, in 2018 for the Golfech plant, for 36 hours.
With the early heat this year, EDF already had to reduce the power of a reactor for a few hours in May in Blayais, then in June in Saint-Alban, on the banks of the Rhône.
The plants most exposed to the risk of exceeding the thermal water discharge limits are Golfech, Le Blayais and Bugey, Saint-Alban and Tricastin in the Rhône. Added to this is Chooz, in the Ardennes, due to a Franco-Belgian agreement on the flow of the Meuse, EDF had indicated in early July.
Source: BFM TV
