Civaux Nuclear Power Plant

Civaux Nuclear Power Plant
Civaux Nuclear Power Plant
Location of Civaux Nuclear Power Plant
Official name	Centrale Nucléaire de Civaux
Country	France
Location	Civaux (Vienne)
Coordinates	46°27′24″N 0°39′10″E / 46.45667°N 0.65278°E / 46.45667; 0.65278Coordinates: 46°27′24″N 0°39′10″E / 46.45667°N 0.65278°E / 46.45667; 0.65278
Status	Operational
Construction began	1988
Commission date	2002
Operator(s)	EDF
Constructor(s)	Bouygues
Reactor information
Reactors operational	2 x 1561 MW
Reactor type(s)	PWR
Reactor supplier(s)	Framatome
Turbine information
Manufacturer(s)	Alstom
Power generation information
Installed capacity	3,122 MW
Annual generation	21,458 GW·h
Net generation	130,417 GW·h
Website Site c/o EDF
As of 10 November 2010

The Civaux Nuclear Power Plant is located in the commune of Civaux (Vienne) at the edge of Vienne River between Confolens (55 km upstream) and Chauvigny (16 km downstream), and 34 km south-east of Poitiers.

It has two operating units that were the precursors to the European Pressurized Reactor, being the "N4 stage". Designed for a net power output of 1450 MWe per unit, power was uprated to 1495 MWe in 2003. Water from the Vienne River is used for cooling.

As of 2004, 692 people work at the plant, with 12.9% women.

The cooling towers of Civaux Nuclear Power Plant are 180 metres in height, making them the tallest cooling towers in France.

Events

• On May 12, 1998 there was a leak on an elbow in a pipe of the RCS. Water leaked out at the rate of 30 cubic meters per hour. It was classified as 2 on the INES scale.

Reactors

Unit	Type	Net power	Total power	Construction start	Construction finish	Commercial operation	Shut down
CIVAUX-1	PWR	1495 MW	1561 MW	1988/10/15	1997/12/24	2002/01/29
CIVAUX-2	PWR	1495 MW	1561 MW	1991/04/01	1999/12/24	2002/04/23