EDF: Fire At Fessenheim Nuclear Plant Rapidly Extinguished

 PARIS –  A fire at the Fessenheim nuclear plant in Eastern France broke out in the building of the second reactor, but was rapidly put out, had no impact on the nuclear reactor's safety, the surrounding environment, or power output, French power group Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) said Wednesday.

The fire broke out at 0630 GMT on a part of the cooling system within the reactor's machine room, outside the nuclear element of the installation. The plant's own crew quickly extinguished the fire, EDF said in a statement on its web site, noting firemen were also called on site and confirmed the incident was over.

Francois Hollande, the socialist party candidate in the ongoing French presidential election, has pledged to close Fessenheim, France's oldest nuclear plant, with two reactors both 35 years old, if elected.

However, France's nuclear safety agency last year considered the reactors could remain operational for ten more years, providing some strengthening works are conducted, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March last year.

On Apr. 5, a fire started within EDF's second nuclear reactor building at its Penly plant, in Normandy, which triggered a radioactive water leak after a joint broke and forced the halt of the reactor operation.

The fire was put out during the night and the leak stopped, although EDF hasn't been able to restart the reactor as the ASN's greenlight is still pending while an investigation over the incident is being conducted.

EDF, which is state-controlled, is the world's largest nuclear operator with 58 reactors in France and 17 reactors in the U.K.

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Closing France's Oldest Nuclear Plant To Take Time-Report

PARIS – Shutting down France's oldest nuclear plant, in Fessenheim near the border with Germany, as pledged by the Socialist candidate in the presidential election Francois Hollande, "will take some time," one of Hollande's advisers said in an interview with French business daily Les Echos released Monday.

The promise to shut down Fessenheim is central to Hollande's energy plans and is part of a pact the Socialist made with the environmental party. According to the pact, Hollande also pledged to lower the share of nuclear in France's energy mix to 50% from around 75% currently by 2025-30, a decision that would actually represent shutting down 24 reactors over the period.

Shutting down Fessenheim would happen during Hollande's five-year mandate, his adviser Francois Brottes is quoted as saying, yet not at the start, as "it takes some time."

As for the other reactors that would need to be shut down according to the pact, Brottes didn't elaborate, insisting that Fessenheim must be closed down first.

France is the world's second largest nuclear operator after the U.S., with 58 reactors currently running and a 59th--a third-generation safety-enhanced Evolutionary Pressurized Reactor --being built. Yet the heavy reliance of the country on nuclear was called into question after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe a year ago and has become a major theme in the electoral campaign ahead of the presidential vote in April and May.

Unlike the environmentalists, the Socialists plan to let the EPR start production.

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