Corrosion problems could force France to be under pressure for a blackout this winter

France is under pressure for a blackout this winter due to corrosion problems and maintenance problems disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as several French media report today, due to corrosion problems which will stop working three nuclear units, Cattenom 3, Chinon 3, and Bugey 4. Normally this is for routine control in the nuclear park, as mentioned EDF French company for production, and supply of electricity. Le FIGARO provided a title, Corrosion: EDF will shut down three nuclear reactors for checks, Le Parisien preferred to give as a title, EDF will shut down three nuclear reactors due to checks on corrosion problems, On the other hand, Les Echos Patrimoine has retained the title, EDF: nuclear production falls to its 1991 level, three new reactors shut down, without signs of corrosion problems.

Corrosion problems

January 13, 2022, Reuters had cited these problems, which documents the problem of the reactor of the Civaux power plant, whose most detected problems are cracks on the pipes of a reactor and defects close to the welds on the pipes of the safety injection circuit. 

Corrosion of nuclear metallic materials

The most common types of nuclear power plants are pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors. Depending on the conception of the process, highly corrosion-resistant alloys have been exploited, such as stainless steel alloys, Ni-based, and Zr alloys. These metallic materials undergo at least one of the following types of corrosion:

• Stress corrosion cracking (SCC).
• Irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC). 
• Environmentally assisted cracking (EAC).
• Intergranular attack (IGA).
• Flow-assisted corrosion (FAC).
• General corrosion (GC).
• Ammonia corrosion (AC).
• Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC).