The EPR nuclear island - Technological solutions developed during basic design

The work which was performed during the Basic Design allows a precise definition of the Nuclear Island. A preliminary Safety Analysis Report (Basic Design Report-BDR) and detailed bill of quantities are now available. The BDR will be the basis of the continuation of the assessment by the French and German Safety Authorities of the proposed design. This paper will illustrate some of the main highlights of the work performed by the four co-designers EDF-CNEN, Framatome, NPI and Siemens during the twenty eight months of the Basic Design during which the work progressed exactly on schedule. A lot of efforts were developed during this phase for the improvement of the performance of the plant. In particular, the increase of the availability (better than 90 %) was one of the main topics which were analysed during the Basic Design. The system architecture which was defined during the conceptual phase was confirmed to be a good basis to reach this ambitious target. The organization scheme between the codesigners and the utilities through Working Groups for all the main engineering disciplines allowed thorough exchanges which produced fruitful results and which allowed to meet the expected targets. At the end of this phase, a significant technical data base is now available for the continuation of the work to meet the utilities needs.