The EPR - technology for the 3rd millennium

This paper is a story of a successful Franco-German co-operation: the EPR project. It is a rundown of the history of the EPR, before a decision is made to launch the lead-unit construction. The EPR is expected to progressively replace the existing nuclear power plants when they will reach the end of their service life. It integrates the latest technological advances, especially in safety and operational aspects and comprises more than 30 years operating experience. Thus, the EPR combines the qualities of its predecessors, the French N4 and the German Konvoi. The safety of the EPR was maximized both to prevent hypothetical accidents - even severe ones - and to reduce their consequences (corium spreading area, pre-stressed double containment with local liner, four-train safety systems...). The n+2 strategy (in the event of a problem with one train and even if a second train is undergoing maintenance, the remaining two are sufficient to perform the function) allows to perform maintenance during operation which leads consequently to short outage periods, highest availabilities and economical operation. Moreover, most of the EPR components are the result of mastered evolution. The reactor vessel, as a key element for the reactor service life, is designed to be in service for 60 years, the core is large (241 fuel elements instead of 205 in the N4 or 193 in the Konvoi) and the steam generators have higher efficiency. Along the same line, the core and core barrel design have been modified to allow a reduced uranium enrichment and the increase to 65 Gigawatt-day per metric-ton of the fuel discharge burn-up. Finally, the instrumentation and control systems minimize human error by giving the operators a grace period of at least 30 minutes to make decisions. (authors)