Dampierre Nuclear Power Plant

Dampierre Nuclear Power Plant
The Dampierre NPP
Location of Dampierre Nuclear Power Plant
Country	France
Coordinates	47°43′59″N 2°31′0″E / 47.73306°N 2.516667°E / 47.73306; 2.516667Coordinates: 47°43′59″N 2°31′0″E / 47.73306°N 2.516667°E / 47.73306; 2.516667
Construction began	1974
Commission date	March 23, 1980
Owner(s)	EDF
Operator(s)	EDF
Reactor information
Reactors operational	4 x 937 MW
Power generation information
Annual generation	24,629 GW·h
Net generation	569,363 GW·h
Website Seite des Betreibers
As of July 22, 2007

The Dampierre nuclear power plant is located in the town of Dampierre-en-Burly (Loiret), 55 km upstream of Orleans and 110 km downstream of Nevers, it uses water from the Loire for cooling.

Approximately 1,100 people work at the site.

Seismic risk

Electricity Production Performance

According to a report by the Nuclear Safety Authority in October 2002, certain functions providing backup cooling for the reactor could not be ensured in the event of an earthquake.

Incidents

On 2 April 2001, during the unit 4 refueling outage, an operator made a mistake in producing the nuclear assembly loading pattern, of which 30% were MOX fuel. The reloading operation was stopped and the core was fully discharged. The incident was reclassified by the ASP at Level 1 of the INES scale.

On the night of 9 to 10 April 2007, reactor No. 3 went on emergency standby and remained so throughout the night; it was supplied with emergency power by an emergency generator. EDF triggered an emergency plan to 22h10. Throughout the night, teams acted in emergency mode, the reactor No. 3 having been deprived of its external power. The emergency generator worked well. The ASN has established a national crisis with the support of the IRSN. EDF and DSC lifted the crisis the following morning at 8:15. Following this incident, the No. 3 reactor remained shut down for several weeks to correct the problem.

References