Saint-Alban Nuclear Power Plant

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Saint-Alban Nuclear Power Plant
Centrale Nucléaire de Saint-Alban.jpg
Overview over the power plant site
Official nameCentrale nucléaire de Saint-Alban
CountryFrance
LocationSaint-Alban-du-Rhône, Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates45°24′16″N 4°45′19″E / 45.40444°N 4.75528°E / 45.40444; 4.75528Coordinates: 45°24′16″N 4°45′19″E / 45.40444°N 4.75528°E / 45.40444; 4.75528
StatusOperational
Construction beganUnit 1: January 29, 1979
Unit 2: July 31, 1979
Commission dateUnit 1: May 1, 1986
Unit 2: March 1, 1987
Owner(s)EDF
Operator(s)EDF
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Reactor supplierFramatome
Cooling sourceRhône River
Power generation
Units operational2 × 1335 MW
Make and modelP4 REP 1300
Thermal capacity2 × 3817 MWth
Nameplate capacity2670 MW
Capacity factor61.54% (2017)
67.90% (lifetime)
Annual net output14,394 GWh (2017)
Website
Centrale nucléaire de Saint-Alban

The Saint-Alban nuclear power plant is located on the Rhone river, in the Isère department 50 km downstream from Lyon in the communes of Saint-Alban-du-Rhône and Saint-Maurice-l'Exil.

Description[edit]

The power station uses water from the Rhone river to cool its two 1,300 MW reactors and employs 670 people..

Type of reactors[edit]

The following types of reactors are installed:

Reactor units[edit]

Reactor Unit[1] Type Average Output Rated Power Began construction Finish construction Commercial operation Close of reactor
St.Alban-1 PWR 1381 MW 1335 MW Jan 1979 Aug 1985 May 1986
St.Alban-2 PWR 1381 MW 1335 MW July 1979 July 1986 March 1987

.[1]

Seismological risk[edit]

According to WENRA, EDF has prepared a plan in case of an earthquake,[2] however other ASN documents from 2002 there may be some anomalies regarding the remote control and which may put into question the correct functioning of certain elements following an earthquake.

2003 heatwave[edit]

Following extremely high temperatures in July 2003 average water temperature rose above the limit authorised by the nuclear safety authorities for a period of 4 hours.

Fire risk[edit]

According to the 2007 ASN annual report recommendations were made to the operator to improve the security of the control room.[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Power Reactor Information System from IAEA: "France (French Republic): Nuclear Power Reactors" (in English) Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "IAEA" defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ WENRA Progress towards harmonisation of safety for existing reactors in WENRA countries (p 74/88)
  3. ^ {fr} "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2011-09-12.

External links[edit]