Chinon Nuclear Power Plant

The Chinon Nuclear Power Plant () is near the town of Avoine in the Indre et Loire département, on the river Loire (approximately 10 km from the town of Chinon) in central France. The power station has seven reactors, of which three have been closed.

Operation It employs approximately 1,350 full-time workers. The operator is Électricité de France (EDF).

Performance

The site houses three of the first generation of French plants, of UNGG-type (similar to the Magnox design), which have now closed. These reactors were named EDF1, EDF2, EDF3 and were later renamed into Chinon-A1, Chinon-A2, Chinon-A3. Four of the first French PWR series were later built on the site (Chinon-B1, Chinon-B2, Chinon-B3, Chinon-B4). The site has four cooling towers, specially designed to be low-profile in order to minimise the visual impact on the Loire.

It is larger than most French plants and feeds approximately 6% of French electricity demand.

Events

During the unusually cold 1986-87 winter, the water intake from the river, as well as several other important pieces of equipment and machinery, froze. On 21 December 2005, sand accumulated inside the tertiary cooling circuit, threatening to block it. This could have stopped cooling of all the reactors. On 4 September 2008, some industrial oil was accidentally discharged to the river in a maintenance operation. It was not radioactively contaminated. On 30 April 2009, a bomb alert caused an evacuation of the plant and an intervention by several units of army security forces. On 10 February 2024, France's EDF shut down two nuclear reactors due to a fire at the plant.

Other info Since 1986, the closed Chinon A1 reactor has been redeveloped to hold the French Atom Museum. The INTRA (INTervention Robotic on Accidents) group, a national nuclear event emergency intervention group equipped with remotely guided, radiation hardened machinery, has its headquarters at the plant.

Reactors Unit Type Net power Total power Construction start Construction finish Commercial operation Shut down Chinon A1 UNGG 70 MW 80 MW01.02.1957 14.06.1963 01.02.1964 16.04.1973 Chinon A2 UNGG 210 MW 230 MW01.08.1959 24.02.1965 24.02.1965 14.06.1985 Chinon A3 UNGG 480 MW 480 MW01.03.1961 04.08.1966 04.08.1966 15.06.1990 Chinon B1 PWR 905 MW 954 MW01.03.1977 30.11.1982 01.02.1984 Qualified to operate until 2024 Chinon B2 PWR 905 MW 954 MW01.03.1977 29.11.1983 01.08.1984 Qualified to operate until 2024 Chinon B3 PWR 905 MW 954 MW01.10.1980 20.10.1986 04.03.1987 Qualified to operate until 2027 Chinon B4 PWR 905 MW 954 MW01.02.1981 14.11.1987 01.04.1988 Qualified to operate until 2028

Chinon Nuclear Power Plant

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