Gravelines Nuclear Power Station
| Gravelines Nuclear Power Station | |
|---|---|
 Gravelines Nuclear Power Station | |
  Location of Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in France | |
| Official name | Centrale Nucléaire de Gravelines |
| Country | France |
| Location | Gravelines, Nord |
| Coordinates | 51°00′55″N 02°08′10″E / 51.01528°N 2.13611°ECoordinates: 51°00′55″N 02°08′10″E / 51.01528°N 2.13611°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1974 |
| Commission date | 13 March 1980 |
| Operator(s) | EDF |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | PWR |
| Reactor supplier | Framatome |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 6 x 951 MW |
| Make and model | Alstom |
| Nameplate capacity | 5,706 MW |
| Annual generation | 38,462 GWh |
|
Website EDF.com | |
The Gravelines Nuclear Power Station is the sixth largest nuclear power station in the world,[1] the second largest in Europe (after the nuclear power station of Zaporizhia, Ukraine) and the largest in Western Europe. It is located near the commune of Gravelines in Nord, France, approximately 20 km (12 mi) from Dunkerque and Calais. Its cooling water comes from the North Sea. The plant houses 6 nuclear reactors with a unitary power of 900 MW. In 2006 the plant produced 38.14 TWh, 8,1% of the whole amount of electricity produced in France. Two reactors entered service in 1980, two in 1981, and two in 1985.
The site employs 1680 regular employees. As of the 2nd of August 2010, it became the first nuclear station anywhere in the world to produce over one thousand terawatt-hour of electricity.[2]
The design for Gravelines units 5 and 6 was the basis for the Chinese CPR-1000 design.[3] The reactors of units 5 and 6 were initially intended for export to Iran, but the order was cancelled after the Iranian revolution in 1979. After the cancellation, the reactors were deployed at the Gravelines site.
Events
- In August 2009, during the yearly exchanging of fuel bundles in Reactor-1, one bundle got stuck to the upper handling structure, stopping the operations and causing the evacuation and isolation of the reactor's building.[4]
- In 2007, the plant experienced four separate events that qualified as Level-1 on the INES Scale, the lowest level on the 7-point scale.
- In 2006 when Unit-3 was taken offline for routine refueling. It was discovered that an electrical wire had not been plugged in correctly during the last outage in 2005. This too ranked Level-1 on the INES Scale.
Cooling Water
The cooling water that carries waste heat from the plant is used by a local commune of aquafarmers who raise European seabass and gilt-head breams. The warm water helps them grow faster.
See also
References
- ↑ IAEA Nuclear Power Plants in France
- ↑ "French nuclear plant reaches landmark". World Nuclear News. 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
- ↑ http://www.iaea.or.at/NuclearPower/Downloads/Technology/meetings/2011-Jul-4-8-ANRT-WS/1_CHINA_CPR1000_CGNPC_S.Lau.pdf CPR1000 Design, Safety Performance and Operability, slide 16
- ↑ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jDlQI2MpwzTvWT166NetwyFGPyiA
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gravelines Nuclear Power Station. |
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