The
Independent: The French nuclear safety agency has uncovered
a series of defects in the construction of a European
Pressurized Water Reactor (EPWR) in Normandy considered to be
the template for the next generation of stations due to be
built in Britain.
The agency, ASN, says that a quarter of the welds seen in its steel liner â a crucial line of defence if there were to be an accident â are not in accordance with welding norms, and that cracks have been found it its concrete base, also essential for containing radioactivity.
The reports â in a series of letters covering inspections made between December and last month â will cause particular concern because similar defects have been listed in a previous report by the Finnish safety authority into the only other reactor of its type being built anywhere in the world.
The agency, ASN, says that a quarter of the welds seen in its steel liner â a crucial line of defence if there were to be an accident â are not in accordance with welding norms, and that cracks have been found it its concrete base, also essential for containing radioactivity.
The reports â in a series of letters covering inspections made between December and last month â will cause particular concern because similar defects have been listed in a previous report by the Finnish safety authority into the only other reactor of its type being built anywhere in the world.
