Quality assurance issues affect French and Swiss plants

A small number of fuel rods supplied to reactors in France and Switzerland have been affected by quality control issues. EDF Group said today that Areva had notified it of quality control deviations on certain rods, which meant the supplier was unable to demonstrate that quality control to substantiate that the leak tightness of those rods had been properly performed.

A small number of fuel rods supplied to reactors in France and Switzerland have been affected by quality control issues. EDF Group said today that Areva had notified it of quality control deviations on certain rods, which meant the supplier was unable to demonstrate that quality control to substantiate that the leak tightness of those rods had been properly performed.

Fourteen rods out of some 2.6 million that are installed in France's nuclear fleet are affected. Of those, three are currently in use in Cattenom 3, Flamanville 1 and Golfech 2. The remaining 11 rods have not been installed in reactors. The company said measurements carried out at those reactors showed them to be operating safely.

The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) said on 17 November that it had been notified that the Leibstadt nuclear power plant had been supplied with some fuel assemblies containing fuel rods that did not meet its specifications. The regulator said the rods in question were affected by a quality assurance failure.

Leibstadt (Image: KKL)

In total, 22 fuel assemblies at the plant are affected, ENSI said, of which six have been used for three to four operating cycles. Leibstadt's fuel load comprises 648 fuel assemblies, making a total of 62,000 fuel rods. Only a small portion of those rods - an estimated 0.045% - are affected by the quality assurance failure, ENSI said.

Leibstadt has decided to replace the affected assemblies, ENSI said, although it noted that the six assemblies involved had not been damaged in previous operating cycles.

Both EDF Group and ENSI said plant safety had not been compromised.

"Damage to a limited number of fuel rods is not welcome during reactor operation, but it poses no danger to humans and the environment because of the [plant's] multiple barriers and defense-in-depth," Ralph Schultz, head of ENSI's safety analysis division, said.

ENSI said Leibstadt's operator is preparing a report on the incident, which the regulator will review. In addition, ENSI plans to carry out an inspection at the manufacturer of fuel rod sleeves. ENSI did not name the manufacturer.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News