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Chinon Nuclear Power Plant

{{Short description|Nuclear power plant in France}}

{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox power station

| name = Chinon Nuclear Power Plant

| name_official = Centrale Nucléaire de Chinon

| image = Chinon nuclear power plant.JPG

| image_caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|47.2325|N|0.1703|E|region:FR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| country = France

| location = Avoine, Indre-et-Loire

| status = Operational

| construction_began = 1957

| commissioned = {{start date and age|1 February 1964}}

| decommissioned =

| cost =

| operator = EDF

| ps_units_operational = 4 × 954 MW

| ps_units_decommissioned = 1 × 80 MW
1 × 230 MW
1 × 480 MW

| np_reactor_type = PWR

| np_reactor_supplier = Framatome

| ps_cooling_towers = 4 × Mechanical Draft

| ps_units_manu_model = Alstom

| ps_electrical_capacity = 3,816

| ps_annual_generation = 23,925

| ps_electrical_cap_fac = 71.6%

| website = [https://www.edf.fr/groupe-edf/producteur-industriel/carte-des-implantations/centrale-nucleaire-de-chinon/presentation Centrale nucléaire de Chinon]

}}The Chinon Nuclear Power Plant ({{langx|fr|Centrale nucléaire de Chinon}}) is near the town of Avoine in the Indre et Loire département, on the river Loire{{cite book |title=French Technical Bulletin |date=1963 |publisher=Economic Section of the French Embassy in the U.S.A. |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i0A9Zj-QbcAC |access-date=28 February 2024 |language=en}} (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.{{cite news |title=France's EDF shuts down two nuclear reactors after fire at Chinon plant |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/frances-edf-shuts-down-two-nuclear-reactors-after-fire-chinon-plant-2024-02-10/ |access-date=28 February 2024 |work=Reuters |date=10 February 2024}}

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

class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
Unit

! Type

! Net power

! Total power

! Construction start

! Construction finish

! Commercial operation

! Shut down

Chinon A1UNGGalign="right" | 70 MWalign="right" | 80 MWalign="right" |01.02.1957align="right" |14.06.1963align="right" |01.02.1964align="right" |16.04.1973
Chinon A2UNGGalign="right" | 210 MWalign="right" | 230 MWalign="right" |01.08.1959align="right" |24.02.1965align="right" |24.02.1965align="right" |14.06.1985
Chinon A3UNGGalign="right" | 480 MWalign="right" | 480 MWalign="right" |01.03.1961align="right" |04.08.1966align="right" |04.08.1966align="right" |15.06.1990
Chinon B1PWRalign="right" | 905 MWalign="right" | 954 MWalign="right" |01.03.1977align="right" |30.11.1982align="right" |01.02.1984align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2024
Chinon B2PWRalign="right" | 905 MWalign="right" | 954 MWalign="right" |01.03.1977align="right" |29.11.1983align="right" |01.08.1984align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2024
Chinon B3PWRalign="right" | 905 MWalign="right" | 954 MWalign="right" |01.10.1980align="right" |20.10.1986align="right" |04.03.1987align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2027
Chinon B4PWRalign="right" | 905 MWalign="right" | 954 MWalign="right" |01.02.1981align="right" |14.11.1987align="right" |01.04.1988align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2028

See also

{{Portal|France|Energy|Nuclear technology}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Chinon nuclear power plant}}

  • http://www.geniustour.com/en/pages/detail.php?j=Nuclear-Museum-of-Chinon

{{French nuclear power plants}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Nuclear power stations in France

Category:Buildings and structures in Indre-et-Loire

Category:Électricité de France