Jan 23 2013
During her visit today to the Taishan nuclear site (in Guangdong province), Mrs Nicole Bricq, the French Minister for Foreign Trade, accompanied by Luc Oursel, Chairman of AREVA’s Executive Board, and Henri Proglio, Chairman and CEO of EDF, was able to see for herself the progress made in the construction work on the two EPR reactors in China, carried out by the owner and future operator of the site, the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company (TNPJVC), a 30% stake in which belongs to EDF, and the rest to CGNPC.
The building site for the 1st reactor has entered a significant new stage with the completion of the work installing the reactor vessel and the installation of four steam generators and the pressurizer inside the reactor building. The two EPR reactors currently being built in Taishan are benefiting from the lessons learned at EPR reactor sites in Finland and France; the welding work on the primary circuit1 was completed 30% quicker than at the Olkiluoto 3 site. It is also thanks to the relationships forged since the start of the project with the Flamanville 3 site, and the way that French and Chinese skills have complemented each other, that the time between the first concrete being poured and the installation of the dome was cut to just 24 months. Before the installation phase, the lessons learned from experience also helped to reduce the time taken to build the four steam generators, in France by 40% compared to those having been built for other EPR reactors, making the French nuclear industry more competitive.
Source: http://www.edf.com