FRANCE: EDF Detects Leak In Penly Nuclear Reactor Pump After Fire

     By Nadya Masidlover     Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES   

PARIS (Dow Jones)--French state-controlled utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) said late Thursday that a leak was detected in a cooling pump of a reactor in the company's plant in the northwest of France, after two small fires were extinguished at the site earlier in the day.

In a statement, EDF said that a flaw was found in a joint on one of the four cooling pumps of the primary circuit in the building of its reactor number two at its nuclear power station in Penly, Normandy, causing a leak.

The water from the leak is currently collected in circuits which exist for this use, it said.

The reactor, which automatically halted after the fire, continues to be cooled normally and the plant teams are working to reduce the pressure and the temperature of the water in the circuit, according to EDF.

Once the pressure and temperature have been reduced, it will be possible to evaluate and repair the pump, the company said.

In a separate statement, the French nuclear safety body, Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, or ASN, said that the current situation hasn't required EDF to implement its emergency plan.

The ASN said its emergency center in Paris and its division in the north of France are analyzing the situation and following its evolution.

Earlier in the evening, a spokeswoman for EDF said that a leak from the lubricant system in one of the reactor's pumps had caused two pools of oil, which due to the high ambient temperature then generated smoke and small flames in the reactor. The two small fires were extinguished Thursday afternoon.

EDF is the world's largest nuclear operator, with 58 reactors in France and 16 reactors in the U.K.