By Inti Landauro
PARIS--French nuclear engineering firm Areva SA discovered
flawed steel in a crucial part of the nuclear reactor it is
building in Flamanville, northern France, the country's nuclear
safety regulator said Tuesday.
The announcement is a further blow for Areva as it struggles to
stay afloat after reporting four consecutive annual losses caused
by bad investment decisions, costly delays in the construction of
reactors such as the one at Flamanville and another in Finland.
The company has also been hurt by changing international
attitudes toward nuclear power, especially following the 2011
Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Areva will carry out further tests on the reactor this month
after finding that steel in its vessel, which is designed to
contain the nuclear reactor, showed high carbon content, leading to
lower mechanical strength. The vessel has already been installed on
the site, according to a spokesman for state-controlled power
utility Electricité de France SA, which commissioned the
reactor.
The results of those tests will be released in October, French
Energy Minister Segolene Royal said.
The French government, which controls more than 85% of Areva, is
considering merging parts of the company with its main client, the
power utility Electricite de France SA.
Areva is building the Flamanville reactor for EDF. It had
already suffered a series of incidents that led the two companies
to delay its completion by more than three years to 2017.
EDF recently estimated that its construction costs had
skyrocketed to EUR8 billion ($8.7 billion) from an original
estimate of EUR3.3 billion.
The French regulator said it would forward the report on the
vessel's flaws to countries with similar projects.
Areva is currently building a reactor of the same design in
Olkiluoto, Finland. That too is also suffering massive delays and
cost overruns.
An Areva spokeswoman said the vessel is installed in the Finland
project and that the country's regulator has approved the parts
there.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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