France's newest EPR reactor at Flamanville to undergo year-long maintenance shutdown

EDF announced that the European Pressurized Reactor at the Flamanville nuclear site will be taken out of service for an extensive maintenance campaign lasting close to a year, with the shutdown commencing on Saturday 26 September. This pause follows the reactor's recent connection to the grid and its achievement of full power, and fulfills a regulatory requirement that the first inspection occur within thirty months of the initial fuel loading.

Renaud Crassous, deputy director of EDF's nuclear production division, called the inspection a vital industrial milestone for the plant. The French nuclear safety authority, ASNR, oversees the timing and scope of the review. During the shutdown, the reactor will not contribute its output to France's electricity supply, temporarily reducing the nation's nuclear generation capacity. The work is expected to conclude after the planned maintenance period, after which the unit will resume operations.