PRESS RELEASE: Planned lifetime extension of French nuclear power plants: study confirms worrying safety situation
PRESS RELEASE, Wednesday, 19th of Februar 2020 – Brussels
Planned lifetime extension of French nuclear power plants: study confirms worrying safety situation
This morning, Green MEPs Jutta Paulus (DE) and Michèle Rivasi (F) presented a study on the safety of French nuclear power plants in the European Parliament.
The study concludes that the nuclear power plants under discussion for a lifetime extension do not meet the internationally valid safety standards and that necessary upgrades are in most respects not possible or economically feasible.
These 900 MW reactors have already exceeded their planned lifetime. Moreover, their safety concepts date back to the 1960s and 1970s.
Greens/EFA MEP Jutta Paulus comments:
„It is particularly alarming that the safety concept of the French programme to extend the operating life of the 900 MW reactors is mainly aimed at mitigating the consequences of a core meltdown. The prevention of a core meltdown and thus the permanent destruction of large parts of Europe is not included in this programme to the extent necessary.
There must therefore be only one consequence: The fastest possible closure of all French 900 MW reactors!
With regard to the threat posed by nuclear accidents throughout Europe, we call on all Member States to take action for the safety of their citizens. This must be ensured within the framework of a cross-border environmental impact assessment, which should be required also for the extension of nuclear power plant life.
Background:
The study “Requirements for increasing the safety level of the French nuclear power plants (NPP) with 900 MW reactors in case of an extension of the operating life of these reactors”, prepared by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Manfred Mertins, Professor at the TH Brandenburg, can be downloaded here; summary and conclusions are available in English: