Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant

Infobox NPP
Picture = Saint-laurent-nouan.jpg
Pic_des = Sunflowers and the nuclear power station Saint-Laurent
Country = France
Utility = EDF
Built = 1963
Start = March 24, 1969
End =
Reactor = 2
S_Reactor = 2
Reactor_MW = 1.912
El_Prod = 12.918
for_year = 2006
El_Prod_avg = 12.210
Net_Prod = 363.287
WEBSITE = [http://www.edf.fr/35075i/Accueilfr/InfosNucleaire/Planrapproche/Lessitesfrancais/Saint_Laurent.html Site c/o Betreibers]
as_of = July 22, 2007The Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Station is located in commune of Saint-Laurent-Nouan in Loir-et-Cher on the Loire River. The town of Blois is 28 km downstream and the town of Orléans is 30 km upstream.

The site houses two operating Pressurized water reactors, which began operation in 1983 and are a power of 900 MWe each. They are cooled by the water of the Loire. Two other UNGG reactors used to exist at the site, which were brought into service in 1969 and 1971 and were stopped in 1990 and 1992.Fact|date=July 2008

The site employs approximately 670 regular workers.

Incidents

On October 17, 1969 50 kg of Uranium in one of the gas cooled reactors began to melt. This event was classified at 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) by EDF.Fact|date=July 2008

On March 13, 1980 there was some annealing that occurred in the graphite of one of the reactors, causing a brief heat excursion. This was also classified as 4 on the INES and has been called the worst nuclear accident in France. Much later, the Institute of Marine Biochemistry at the "l'École normale supérieure de Montrouge" school claimed that they found traces of plutonium in the river which they believed was released in the 1980 or 1969 accident many years ago.Fact|date=July 2008