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=                     Chinon Nuclear Power Plant                     =
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                             Introduction                             
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The Chinon Nuclear Power Plant () is near the town of Avoine in the
Indre et Loire 'département', on the river Loire (approximately 10 km
from the town of Chinon) in central France. The power station has
seven reactors, of which three have been closed.


                              Operation                               
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It employs approximately 1,350 full-time workers. The operator is
Électricité de France (EDF).


                             Performance                              
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The site houses three of the first generation of French plants, of
UNGG-type (similar to the Magnox design), which have now closed. These
reactors were named EDF1, EDF2, EDF3 and were later renamed into
Chinon-A1, Chinon-A2, Chinon-A3.
Four of the first French PWR series were later built on the site
(Chinon-B1, Chinon-B2, Chinon-B3, Chinon-B4). The site has four
cooling towers, specially designed to be low-profile in order to
minimise the visual impact on the Loire.

It is larger than most French plants and feeds approximately 6% of
French electricity demand.


                                Events                                
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*During the unusually cold 1986-87 winter, the water intake from the
river, as well as several other important pieces of equipment and
machinery, froze.
*On 21 December 2005, sand accumulated inside the tertiary cooling
circuit, threatening to block it. This could have stopped cooling of
all the reactors.
*On 4 September 2008, some industrial oil was accidentally discharged
to the river in a maintenance operation. It was not radioactively
contaminated.
*On 30 April 2009, a bomb alert caused an evacuation of the plant and
an intervention by several units of army security forces.
*On 10 February 2024, France's EDF shut down two nuclear reactors due
to a fire at the plant.


                              Other info                              
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*Since 1986, the closed Chinon A1 reactor has been redeveloped to hold
the French Atom Museum.
*The INTRA (INTervention Robotic on Accidents) group, a national
nuclear event emergency intervention group equipped with remotely
guided, radiation hardened machinery, has its headquarters at the
plant.


                               Reactors                               
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Unit	Type	Net power	Total power	Construction start	Construction finish
Commercial operation	Shut down
Chinon A1 	 UNGG 	 align="right" | 70 MW 	 align="right" | 80 MW
align="right" |01.02.1957 	 align="right" |14.06.1963 	 align="right"
|01.02.1964 	 align="right" |16.04.1973
Chinon A2 	 UNGG 	 align="right" | 210 MW 	 align="right" | 230 MW
align="right" |01.08.1959 	 align="right" |24.02.1965 	 align="right"
|24.02.1965 	 align="right" |14.06.1985
Chinon A3 	 UNGG 	 align="right" | 480 MW 	 align="right" | 480 MW
align="right" |01.03.1961 	 align="right" |04.08.1966 	 align="right"
|04.08.1966 	 align="right" |15.06.1990
Chinon B1 	 PWR 	 align="right" | 905 MW 	 align="right" | 954 MW
align="right" |01.03.1977 	 align="right" |30.11.1982 	 align="right"
|01.02.1984 	 align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2024
Chinon B2 	 PWR 	 align="right" | 905 MW 	 align="right" | 954 MW
align="right" |01.03.1977 	 align="right" |29.11.1983 	 align="right"
|01.08.1984 	 align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2024
Chinon B3 	 PWR 	 align="right" | 905 MW 	 align="right" | 954 MW
align="right" |01.10.1980 	 align="right" |20.10.1986 	 align="right"
|04.03.1987 	 align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2027
Chinon B4 	 PWR 	 align="right" | 905 MW 	 align="right" | 954 MW
align="right" |01.02.1981 	 align="right" |14.11.1987 	 align="right"
|01.04.1988 	 align="right" | Qualified to operate until 2028


                               See also                               
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*Nuclear decommissioning


                            External links                            
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*http://www.geniustour.com/en/pages/detail.php?j=Nuclear-Museum-of-Chinon


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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinon_Nuclear_Power_Plant


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