Paluel Nuclear Power Plant

Paluel Nuclear Power Plant
Official name Centrale Nucléaire de Paluel
Country France
Location Paluel, Seine-Maritime, Normandy
Coordinates 49°51′29″N 0°38′8″E / 49.85806°N 0.63556°E / 49.85806; 0.63556Coordinates: 49°51′29″N 0°38′8″E / 49.85806°N 0.63556°E / 49.85806; 0.63556
Status Operational
Construction began Unit 1: August 15, 1977
Unit 2: January 1, 1978
Unit 3: February 1, 1979
Unit 4: February 1, 1980
Commission date Units 1–2: December 1, 1985
Unit 3: February 1, 1986
Unit 4: June 1, 1986
Owner(s) EDF
Operator(s) EDF
Nuclear power station
Reactor type PWR
Reactor supplier Framatome
Cooling source English Channel
Power generation
Units operational 4 × 1330 MW
Make and model P4 REP 1300
Thermal capacity 4 × 3817 MWth
Nameplate capacity 5320 MW
Capacity factor 45.53% (2017)[lower-alpha 1]
68.53% (lifetime)
Annual net output 21,218 GWh (2017)
Website
Centrale nucléaire de Paluel

The Nuclear power station Paluel (French: Centrale nucléaire de Paluel) lies within the French town Paluel in Normandy in the Département Seine-Maritime. The nuclear power station, which consists of four 1330 MWe class pressurized water reactors, is about 40 kilometers far away from the city of Dieppe and employs approx. 1,250 full-time workers. The operator is the French company EDF. Water from the English Channel is used for cooling.

Achievement

The installed total output of 5.528 GW makes it one of the largest nuclear power stations in France. By electrical output it is second place in France and seventh place worldwide. It feeds on average 32 billion kilowatt-hours into the public electricity grid every year.

Safety

In the past, there were problems with the cooling of the plant due to blockage of cooling water from the English Channel, which caused an automatic reactor trip. The blockage was caused in part by seasonally-present macroalgae, and EDF is pursuing possible solutions to prevent its entrainment with Gunderboom, Inc.

In April 2016 a 450 tonne steam generator crashed onto the reactor floor during the decennial maintenance outage of Paluel 2. Paluel 2 went offline in May 2015, and is now expected to return to service in April 2018 after the replacement of the steam generator.[1][2][3]

Reactors

Reaktorblock[4] Type Net power Total power Construction start Construction finish Commercial operation Licensed Until
Paluel 1PWR1,330 MW1,382 MW15.08.197722.06.198401.12.19852025
Paluel 2PWR1,330 MW1,382 MW01.01.197804.09.198401.12.19852025
Paluel 3PWR1,330 MW1,382 MW01.02.197930.09.198501.02.19862026
Paluel 4PWR1,330 MW1,382 MW01.02.198011.04.198601.06.19862026

Notes

  1. ↑ Unit 2 has been completely offline since May 2015 — see #Safety for details.

References

  1. ↑ "French regulator investigating incident at Paluel NPP". Nuclear Engineering International. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "EDF extends outage of damaged Paluel 2 reactor". Nuclear Engineering International. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "France to decide reactor closures next year". Nuclear Engineering International. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Power Reactor Information System der IAEA: „France (French Republic): Nuclear Power Reactors“ (englisch)
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