Flamanville EPR reactor vessel: chronology of events confirm AREVA’s transparency

Recent assertions in the press oblige AREVA to make the following clarification.

Two carbon content measurements were carried out in 2007 on shavings from the forging. The purpose of these two measurements, performed during an intermediate phase of manufacture, was to check the orientation of the part in the steel ingot, not to verify the carbon content of a zone deemed without risk at that stage. The results of these measurements were in fact communicated to the authorities as of 2008.

Moreover, AREVA has taken the initiative to appoint an independent expert to conduct an additional quality review of its industrial practices at Le Creusot site. The review will provide all the answers to the questions raised by the authorities. It will in particular establish whether or not the prevailing quality culture has been found at fault in analyzing the consequences of the results obtained on the vessel shavings in 2007.

Only the results of "resilience" measurements carried out on the metal in 2014 made it possible to conclude that the carbon content level called for further studies. These results were submitted to the authority at the end of the analyses, then made public.