| Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant | |
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Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant |
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| Official name | Centrale Nucléaire de Saint-Laurent |
| Country | France |
| Location | Saint-Laurent-Nouan |
| Coordinates | |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1963 |
| Commission date | March 24, 1969 (Saint-Laurent A) (Saint-Laurent B) |
| Decommission date | 1990 (Saint-Laurent A-1) 1991 (Saint-Laurent A-2) |
| Operator(s) | EDF |
| Constructor(s) | GTM |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors operational | 2 x 956 MW |
| Reactors decom. | 1 x 390 MW 1 x 450 MW |
| Reactor type(s) | GCR (retired) PWR |
| Reactor supplier(s) | Framatome |
| Turbine information | |
| Manufacturer(s) | Alstom |
| Power generation information | |
| Installed capacity | 1,912 MW |
| Annual generation | 12,918 GW·h |
| Net generation | 363,287 GW·h |
| Website Site c/o Betreibers |
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| As of 11 November 2010 | |
The Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Station is located in the commune of Saint-Laurent-Nouan in Loir-et-Cher on the Loire River – 28 km downstream from Blois and 30 km upstream from Orléans.
The site includes two operating pressurized water reactors (each 900MWe), which began operation in 1983. They are cooled by the water of the Loire River.
Two other UNGG reactors used to exist at the site, which were brought into service in 1969 and 1971 and were retired in April 1990 and June 1992.[1]
The site employs approximately 670 regular workers.
On October 17, 1969 50 kg of uranium in one of the gas cooled reactors began to melt. This event was classified at 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES),[2] and is, as of Dec 2011, the most serious civil nuclear power accident in France.[3]
On March 13, 1980 there was some annealing that occurred in the graphite of one of the reactors, causing a brief heat excursion. This was also classified as 4 on the INES and has been called the worst nuclear accident in France. Much later, the Institute of Marine Biochemistry at the École normale supérieure de Montrouge claimed that they found traces of plutonium in the river which they believed was released in the 1980 or 1969 accident many years ago.[4]
The initial report following the 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, identified the Saint-Laurent plant as being at risk of flooding, and called for its safety measures to be re-examined.[5] Plans to build a flood wall around the site were made but abandoned, it is thought, due the cost.[3]
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