France still looking for damaged tube at Cruas-4 nuclear plant

Paris (Platts)--23Feb2006

Electricite de France is still looking for the steam generator tube that
sprang a small leak at Cruas-4, causing the 900MW reactor unit to be pulled
from the grid Feb 11, an official at the French nuclear safety authority said.

     EDF must also identify the cause of the incident, and will probably have
to plug the tube, he said. However, he denied a rumor that the tube had
ruptured, which is considered a serious incident at a pressurized water
reactor. 

     EDF says it has never had a steam generator tube rupture. The leak was
only about 500 liters/hour, he said, equivalent to a "leaky faucet," whereas a
steam generator tube rupture is at least several tens of cubic meters/hour.
EDF said the Cruas-4 leak had been rated at Level 0 (no safety significance)
on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

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