Local Crisis Centres (CCL) are to be built at 11 nuclear power plants in France. Designed to withstand accident levels (earthquake, flood, tornadoes, etc.) of a great magnitude, the CCLs are built to enable the management of a facility independently and safely in any situation.
Located outside the nuclear site, the CCL provides everything required for comprehensive crisis management with independent telecom resources, a decontamination zone, water and electricity autonomy, air purification and life logistics. It can accommodate the team members of the crisis management team autonomously for three days.
The initiative derives directly from the additional safety assessment which concluded a large audit carried out by The French Nuclear Authority (ASN) and EDF after the Fukushima accident in 2011.
The utility operator implemented a set of measures to ensure the sustainability of the French installed base of nuclear power plants by guaranteeing their integrity in any situation. The installation of local crisis centres is considered one of the important measures of this post-Fukushima era.
EDF implemented a demonstration centre in Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant as a prototype. The final concept is to be employed at the other CCL will be based on this test project.
The centres are planned to be built in Belleville, Blayais, Bugey, Cattenom, Civaux, Chinon, Cruas, Dampierre, Gravelines, Saint-Laurent and Tricastin. Six others are planned as a second step to cover all existing plants.
CCL power supply
Power supply systems company, AEG Power Solutions, has been selected to deliver the power back-up for the 11 CCL. The contract was signed with Valiance, a subsidiary of the Fayat group, and includes the complete electrical and control systems package of the crisis centres.
AEG Power Solutions is providing the power supply back-up of the sites with a solution combining Profitec S N1 rectifier, Transokraft N1 inverter and VRLA batteries. Both systems are fully analogue and class 1E certified.
Besides the obvious requirements for seismic or flood resistance, which both systems are designed to meet, the main challenge was to provide a battery autonomy significantly expanded compared to the standard. AEG PS team engineered a solution allowing the charger to handle an increased battery capacity and increase the autonomous supply from the 70mn initially specified to the 4 hours finally required.
“We are very proud to contribute to the CCL projects. Our analogue systems have proven track records in the field as our technology has been used in nuclear power plants around the world for about 50 years and AEG PS nuclear team has also a very sound experience in project management,” explains Frédéric Perdigal, area sales director.
The first centre to be equipped will be in Tricastin at the beginning of 2022.
