European Pressurized Reactor - Flamanville 3 (EDF's First Plant)

Flamanville 3 (EDF's First Plant)

First concrete was poured for the demonstration EPR reactor at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant on 6 December 2007. This will be the third unit on the site and the second EPR ever constructed. Electrical output will be 1630 MWe (net) and the project involves around € 3.3 billion of capital expenditure from EdF. The following is a condensed timeline for the unit:

• From 19 October 2005 to 18 February 2006 the project was submitted to a national public debate.
• On 4 May 2006 the decision was made by EDF's Board of Directors to continue with the construction.
• Between 15 June and 31 July 2006 the unit underwent a public enquiry, which rendered a "favorable opinion" on the project.
• In Summer 2006 site preparation works began.
• In December 2007 construction of the unit itself began. This is expected to last 54 months.
• In May 2009 Professor Stephen Thomas reported that after 18 months of construction and after a series of quality control problems, the project is "more than 20 percent over budget and EDF is struggling to keep it on schedule".
• In 2010 EDF announced that costs had increased 50% to € 5 billion, and commissioning was delayed by about two years to 2014.
• In July 2011 EDF announced that the estimated costs have escalated to €6 billion and that completion of construction is delayed to 2016
• On 3 December 2012 EDF announced that the estimated costs have escalated to €8.5 billion