Blayais Nuclear Power Plant

The Blayais Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear plant on the banks of the Gironde estuary near Blaye, France operated by Électricité de France.

Blayais Nuclear Power Plant
Official name	Centrale nucléaire du Blayais
Country	France
Location	Blaye, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates	45°15′21″N 0°41′35″W
Status	Operational
Construction began	Units 1–2: 1 January 1977 Units 3–4: 1 April 1978
Commission date	Unit 1: 1 December 1981 Unit 2: 1 February 1983 Unit 3: 14 November 1983 Unit 4: 1 October 1983
Owner	EDF
Operator	EDF
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Framatome
Cooling source	Gironde estuary
Thermal capacity	4 × 2785 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	4 × 910 MW
Make and model	CP1
Nameplate capacity	3640 MW
Capacity factor	82.73% (2017) 75.15% (lifetime)
Annual net output	26,380 GWh (2017)
External links
Website	Centrale nucléaire du Blayais
Commons	Related media on Commons

Production Blayais NPP, 5 yr average (TWh/yr)

Blayais NPP production 1981-2016 (based upon IAEA PRIS data)

Description

The power plant has 4 pressurized water reactors – producing 951 MW gross and 910 MW net each.^[1] They were commissioned from 1981 to 1983. The plant has 1200 EDF employees and 350 permanent workers.^{[citation needed]}

The four reactors produce about 25 TWh per year^[1] which is about 5% of the total electricity consumption in France (2015: 476 TWh).^[2] Since its commissioning and up to 2024, the Blayais nuclear power plant has produced around 1000 TWh.^[1]

Selected incidents

1999 flooding

Main article: 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood

On the evening of 27 December 1999, a combination of the incoming tide and high winds overwhelmed the sea walls at the plant and causing parts of the plant to be flooded.^[3] The event resulted in the loss of the plant's off-site power supply and knocked out several safety-related backup systems, resulting in a 'level 2' event on the International Nuclear Event Scale.^[4]

At the time, units 1, 2 and 4 were at full power, while unit 3 was shut down for refuelling.^[3] The operation of units 1 and 2 were affected by flood damage to a number of water pumps and distribution panels, all four units lost their 225 kV power supplies, while units 2 and 4 also lost their 400 kV power supplies.^[3] Diesel backup generators were employed to maintain power to plants 2 and 4 until the 400 kV supply was restored.^[3] Over the following days an estimated 90,000 m³ (3,200,000 cu ft) of water was pumped out of the flooded buildings.^[3]

On 5 January, the regional newspaper Sud-Ouest ran the following headline without being contradicted: "Very close to a major accident", explaining that a catastrophe had been narrowly avoided.^[5]

The flooding resulted in fundamental changes to the evaluation of flood risk at nuclear power plants, and in the precautions taken.^[6]

In Germany the flooding prompted the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety to order an evaluation of the German nuclear power plants.^[3]

Opposition

Stéphane Lhomme in front of Blayais' Nuclear power station

The continued operation of the Blayais plant is opposed by the local anti-nuclear group 'TchernoBlaye' (a portmanteau of the French spelling of Chernobyl and Blaye, the nearest town), formed by Stéphane Lhomme on 15 December 1999.^[7]