Chooz Nuclear Power Plant

Chooz Nuclear Power Plant
Map
Official nameCentrale Nucléaire de Chooz
CountryFrance
LocationChooz, Ardennes
Coordinates50°5′24″N 4°47′22″E / 50.09000°N 4.78944°E / 50.09000; 4.78944
StatusOperational
Construction began1960
Commission date15 April 1967 (15 April 1967)
Decommission date1991 (Chooz A)
OperatorEDF
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Reactor supplierFramatome
Cooling towers2 × Natural Draft
Cooling sourceMeuse River
Power generation
Units operational2 × 1560 MW
Make and modelAlstom
Units decommissioned1 × 320 MW
Nameplate capacity3120 MW
Capacity factor70.6%
Annual net output19,306 GW·h
External links
Websitewww.edf.fr/120786i/Accueil-fr/EDF-Nos-Energies/-nucleaire/les-centrales-nucleaires/Chooz/presentation.html
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The Chooz Nuclear Power Station (French: Centrale nucléaire de Chooz) lies in the municipality of Chooz in the Ardennes department, France, on the Meuse River in a panhandle protruding into Belgium, between the French city of Charleville-Mézières and the Belgian municipality of Dinant, near the comune of Givet.

Three nuclear reactors have been built on the site, Chooz A, Chooz B1 and Chooz B2. Chooz A was permanently shutdown in 1991 and has been undergoing the decommissioning process since 2007.

As of 2022, the plant employed around 1200 operators.[1]

The Chooz reactors were a source of neutrinos for the Chooz neutrino oscillation experiment; a new experiment, Double Chooz, was also operating nearby.

Chooz A

Chooz A was an early pressurized water reactor (PWR) design by Westinghouse, built and operated by French (EDF) and Belgian (SENA) grid operators. It was shut down in 1991 after an operational life of 22 years. The containment building of this unit was underground.

Decommissioning was authorised in 2007. After preliminary work, decommissioning of the reactor pressure vessel began in 2016. As of 2022, vessel’s internal equipment was being dismantled under water.[2]

Chooz B1 and B2

Two units of the N4 reactor design are in operation, Chooz B1 and Chooz B2. Designed for a net power output of 1450 MWe, power was uprated to 1500 MWe in 2003. This was the highest nameplate capacity for any reactor design worldwide until the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China began operation. The Taishan plant is an EPR design reactor with a net power output of greater than 1,600 MWe per reactor.

Reactors

Unit Type Net power Total power Construction start Construction finish Commercial operation Shut down
Chooz - A (Ardennes)[3] PWR 310 MW 320 MW 1962-01-01 1967-04-03 1967-04-15 1991-10-30
Chooz - B 1[4] PWR 1500 MW 1560 MW 1984-01-01 1996-08-30 2000-05-15
Chooz - B 2[5] PWR 1500 MW 1560 MW 1985-12-31 1997-04-10 2000-09-29

References

  1. ^ "La centrale nucléaire de Chooz". Centrale nucléaire de Chooz | EDF France (in French). EDF. Retrieved August 3, 2022. 1 187 intervenants assurent au quotidien la production d'électricité.
  2. ^ "French regulator reviews Chooz A decommissioning". World Nuclear News. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  3. ^ "PRIS - Reactor Details". pris.iaea.org. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  4. ^ "PRIS - Reactor Details". pris.iaea.org. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  5. ^ "PRIS - Reactor Details". pris.iaea.org. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chooz nuclear power plant.
  • Chooz B, Nuclear Engineering International wall chart, February 1985