The Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant is located in the
Fessenheim
Fessenheim (; gsw-FR, Fassene) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
It is known for:
* its hydroelectric power plant on the Grand Canal d'Alsace (built 1953–1956, inaugurated 1957);
* the Fessenhei ...
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is the ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Grand Est
Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten;
Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...
in north-eastern France, north east of the
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...
urban area, within of the border with Germany, and approximately from Switzerland. Unit 1 was closed in February 2020 and unit 2 on 29 June 2020.
Description
The Fessenheim plant has two
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water reactor, light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary ...
s, which each generated 920
MWe
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
. Construction at Fessenheim began in 1970 and the plant was commissioned in 1977.
Autorité de sûreté nucléaire
The ''Autorité de sûreté nucléaire'' ( en, Nuclear Safety Authority, ASN) is an independent French administrative authority set up by law 2006-686 of 13 June 2006 concerning nuclear transparency and security. It has replaced the General Direct ...
, accessed 2009-05-17 It is built alongside the
Grand Canal d'Alsace
The Grand Canal of Alsace (, ) is a canal in eastern France, channeling the Upper Rhine river. It is 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) long between Kembs and Vogelgrun, and provides access to the region from the Rhine River, Basel in Switzerland, ...
, a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
channelling the
Upper Rhine
The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the Rhine between Basel in Switzerland and Bingen in Germany, surrounded by the Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the sc ...
river, from which it drew of
cooling water
Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...
annually.
The plant employed around 700 staff and 200 contractors, and indirectly supports a further 600 to 2,000 people during maintenance operations. The plant contributed around 16,000,000
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
in tax to the various local authorities, including providing the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
* On April 9, 2014, a tank on the non-nuclear equipment cooling system was accidentally overfilled due to incorrect level indicators. As the overflow drain pipe on this tank was blocked near ground level and could not drain the overflow water as designed, the overflowing water from this tank backed up through multiple other pipes and eventually began overflowing into a room next to Unit 1's control room. The failure of several supposedly water-tight seals between floors allowed the leaking water to descend into lower levels, eventually encountering and shorting out electrical equipment used for some of the nuclear control systems. One of the two redundant reactor protection system trains became unavailable due to the water damage, and the reactor control rod visual position indicators were totally disabled. Although by this point the water leak had already been stopped, the loss of the reactor control rod visual position indicators meant that the reactor could not be shut down via normal control rod operation, and would need to be shut down through an alternate system (either via an uncontrolled emergency drop of the safety shutdown rods or by utilizing the
boron
Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...
injection system). The operators on duty chose to slowly bring the reactor to a normal shutdown via the use of the boron injection system (which was permitted under normal operation rules), and the reactor reached a "maintenance cold shutdown" state on April 11, 2014. This event was rated at 'level 1' on the
International Nuclear Event Scale
The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to enable prompt communication of safety significant information in case of nuclear accidents.
The s ...
(INES). Following the repair, testing, and recertification of all damaged equipment, Unit 1 was subsequently reconnected to the grid on May 28, 2014.
* On September 5, 2012, two employees were mildly injured by a steam release caused by a minor chemical accident which also triggered fire alarms at the plant.
* On April 10, 2011, operator error led to one of the reactors automatically shutting down. The incident had no further consequences and was rated at 'level 1' on the
International Nuclear Event Scale
The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to enable prompt communication of safety significant information in case of nuclear accidents.
The s ...
(INES).
* On December 27, 2009, a 'level 1' incident on the INES occurred when plant matter was drawn into the Essential Service Water System intake, reducing the flow rate, although the flow remained sufficient to avoid endangering the security of the plant.
* On January 24, 2004, the water in the primary circuit water of Unit 1 was contaminated by radioactive resin from a system used to filter out boron, quickly blocking several filters and endangering the integrity of the joints on the pumps.Incident à la centrale de Fessenheim IRSN, published 2004-02-10 accessed 2011-03-30Tranche 1 De La Centrale Nucleaire De Fessenheim Incidents De Janvier 2004 ''Stop Transports'', accessed 2011-03-30 Seven EDF employees inhaled radioactive dust during the replacement of the filters, and another was slightly irradiated during the clean-up the following month. The incident was categorised at 'level 1' on the INES.
Risks
Due to its location, the Fessenheim plant is subject to particular risks from seismic activity and flooding, and there is an ongoing debate about the adequacy of its design in these respects.
Seismicity
The majority of the
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is the ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
'', including Fessenheim, is classified as being in a zone of moderate seismicity; the southern third is in a medium-risk zone.Quatre centrales sur une zone sismique ''Les quatre éléments'' published 2011-03-15, accessed 2011-04-13 The most recent earthquake in this zone, with a magnitude of 3.9, took place on Saturday, 10 September 2022, 1.2km from Flaxlanden (epicenter 47.693°N 7.359°E with a 8.9 km depth). Previously an earthquake of magnitude 4.7, was recorded in this southern third at
Sierentz
Sierentz (; Alsatian: ''Siarez''; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is located roughly halfway between Mulhouse and Basel. Both cities can be accessed by train from Sierentz station.
See also
* ...
in July 1980. The last major earthquake in the region was the
1356 Basel earthquake
The 1356 Basel earthquake is the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history and had a moment magnitude in the range of 6.0–7.1.Mw magnitude of up to 7.1.Centrale Nucléaire de Fessenheim : appréciation du risque sismique Résonance Ingénieurs-Conseils SA, published 2007-09-05, accessed 2011-03-30
A report commissioned by the Swiss canton of
Basel-Stadt
Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...
, published in 2007, concluded that the previous seismic evaluations undertaken by both EDF and, to a lesser extent, by the ''
Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire The French ''Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire'' (IRSN) ("Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute") located in Fontenay-aux-Roses is a public official establishment with an industrial and commercial aspect (EPIC) created by ...
'' (Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute, IRSN) had underestimated the risks involved. In particular, although the location of the fault in the
Rhine Rift Valley
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...
that led to the
1356 Basel earthquake
The 1356 Basel earthquake is the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history and had a moment magnitude in the range of 6.0–7.1.moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
), and the distance from the fault to the plant (ranging from to away, compared to the distances of and used by EDF and the IRSN respectively). EDF also failed to take into account the possibility of a moderate local earthquake, which may have the potential to do greater damage than one which is larger but more distant, and the report was also critical of some aspects of the RFS 2001-01 assessment requirements. The report found that the design standards in force when the plant was built were similar to those that apply to present-day public buildings: the plant had been designed to accommodate movement, but it was not possible to determine whether or not the safety margins used would be adequate if a more realistic seismic evaluation were to be used.
On March 11, 2011, the local Information and Oversight Commission announced that it was commissioning two independent second opinions, to be delivered as soon as possible, one on 'the safety of the plant in the event of an earthquake of magnitude 7.2, corresponding to the new seismic reference point proposed by the Swiss experts', the other on the 'redundancy of the cooling systems' in case of flooding.Centrale de Fessenheim : la CLIS demande deux nouvelles contre-expertises
Le Parisien
''Le Parisien'' (; French for "The Parisian") is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH.
Histor ...
, published 2011-04-11, accessed 2011-04-11GSIEN has been commissioned to produce one of the reports.
Flood
Although situated around below the level of the adjacent Grand Canal d'Alsace, it is not clear whether, taking into account the calculation methods in the 1960s, the design took adequate account the consequences of a breach in the canal. In its initial report following the 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, the Institute for Nuclear Protection and Safety (now part of the Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute) called for the risk of flooding at Fessenheim to be re-examined due to the presence of the canal.Rapport sur l'inondation du site du Blayais survenue le 27 décembre 1999 Institute for Nuclear Protection and Safety, published 2000-01-17, accessed 2011-03-21
On March 11, 2011, the local Information and Oversight Commission announced that it has commissioned an urgent report on the 'redundancy of the cooling systems' in case of flooding and that another report 'to determine the areas to strengthen to guarantee the safety of the plant in the event of a breach in the canal', which had already started, is expected in June 2011.
Aquifer
The station is built on top of a large aquifer (French ''Fossé rhénan'', German ''Oberrhein-Aquifer''), contamination of which would be very harmful. A concrete slab is built below the reactor in order to reduce the risk of polluting the aquifer.
Cooling water
In August 2018, the plant was shut down during a heat wave to ensure that cooling water being released into the nearby river did not overheat it.
Opposition
Opposition to the Fessenheim plant dates back to the 1970s when its construction was proposed, and in June 1977 the
pirate radio station
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license.
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...
''
Radio Verte Fessenheim
Radio Dreyeckland is a radio station in Mulhouse, Alsace, France. Another station with the same name operates in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Both stations are successors to Radio Verte Fessenheim which was started by opponents to the Fessenhe ...
'' (Green Radio Fessenheim) began broadcasting against the plant.
There have been concerns about the
seismic
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...
safety of the plant and, following the 2011
Fukushima I nuclear accidents
The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 ...
, on March 21 the local Information and Oversight Commission for the plant called for the seismic risk to be re-evaluated based on a 7.2 magnitude earthquake; the plant was originally designed for a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.Séisme, inondation : la pression monte à Fessenheim Le Moniteur published 2011-03-24, accessed 2011-03-30 The
Swiss cantons
The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss C ...
of
Basel-Stadt
Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...
,
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...
and Jura have also said that they are going to ask the French government to suspend the operation of Fessenheim while undertaking a safety review based on the lessons learned from Japan. The German
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
has called for a temporary closure in line with the 3-month shutdown of pre-1981 plants ordered in Germany. On March 29 the
Franche-Comté Regional Council
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
went further and voted for the plant to be closed, the first time a French Regional Council has passed such a vote. On April 6 the
Grand Council of Basel-Stadt
The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (german: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of th ...
also voted for the plant to be closed as did the
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
of the
Urban Community of Strasbourg
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. Around 3,800 people demonstrated near the plant on April 8; a larger demonstration is expected on April 25. The group ''Stop Fessenheim'' have collected over 63,000 signatures through an online
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
calling for Fessenheim's closure, and, on April 18, began a 366-day '
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
relay' outside the
préfecture
In France, a prefecture (french: préfecture) may be:
* the ''chef-lieu de département'', the commune in which the administration of a department is located;
* the ''chef-lieu de région'', the commune in which the administration of a region is l ...
office in
Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...
.
Although the plant was built with a 40-year operational life, on the plant's 30th anniversary, the anti nuclear group '' sortir du nucléaire'' called for the plant's immediate closure. The Tri-national Nuclear Protection Action Group ATPN (''Action Tri nationale de Protection Nucléaire''), with members from France, Germany and Switzerland also campaigned for the plant to be closed and in 2008 unsuccessfully applied to the Strasbourg Administrative Tribunal (''Tribunal Administratif de Strasbourg'') to order its closure. On March 9, 2011, a further application to close the plant because of the
seismic
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...
,
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
ing and other risks was rejected by the tribunal.
A local association called ''Stop Fessenheim'' was formed in October 2005 and registered in the Canton of Munster, after having operated informally since 2004.
The Fessenheim plant is one in a group of French nuclear power plants opposed by neighbouring countries, the other plants being
Cattenom
Cattenom (; lb, Kettenuewen; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Geography
It lies about 8 kilometres north of Thionville. The localities of Homeldange, Husange (aka ''Hussange'') and Sentzich are in ...
and
Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon and Geneva. It is located in a loop of the Rhône River in the southeast of the department. It includes the foothills of the ...
.
Attacks and sabotage
On May 3, 1975, two bombs exploded at the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant, which was still under construction. This caused damage and delayed the completion of the plant. No one was injured. The bombing was claimed by a group named "Commando Puig Antich – Ulrike Meinhof".
On the evening of June 2, 1980, unidentified people drove up to the gate of the power plant and fired guns at the guards. No one of the guards was hit.
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
confirmed his plan to close the plant in 2017.
In September 2012, he ordered to close the plant by the end of 2016.
In September 2015,
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election.
Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 2014 ...
(Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy since April 2014), said a closure before the end of the term of
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
(that ends in May 2017) would furthermore be her intention. Royal has suggested turning the plant into a Tesla factory.
In June 2016, EDF demanded a settlement from the State for compensation. On 24 August 2016,
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
wrote that a settlement has been stipulated.
On 9 April 2017, the plant was ordered to close after the
Flamanville 3
The Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant is located at Flamanville, Manche, France on the Cotentin Peninsula. The power plant houses two pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that produce 1.3 GWe each and came into service in 1986 and 1987, respectivel ...
unit comes online, expected to begin operation in late 2018, later reported to 2019, keeping the French nuclear generation capacity below the legal limit of 63.2 GWe.
In November 2018,
President Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econo ...
announced that both units would close in early 2020, which was refined in 2019 to unit 1 in February 2020 and unit 2 in June 2020.
Representatives of the international and French nuclear industry spoke out against the closure. The
World Nuclear Association
World Nuclear Association is the international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the companies that comprise the global nuclear industry. Its members come from all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining, ur ...
and the Director General of the Société française d’énergie nucléaire argued that low-emission energy from Fessenheim will be replaced by energy generated by
fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
Nuclear power in France
Since the mid 1980s, the largest source of electricity in France is Nuclear power, with a generation of 379.5 TWh in 2019 and a total electricity production of . In 2018, the nuclear share was 71.67%, the highest percentage in the world.
Since ...
*
Anti-nuclear movement in France
In the 1970s, an anti-nuclear movement in France, consisting of citizens' groups and political action committees, emerged. Between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power in ten demonstrations.Herbert P. KitscheltPoliti ...