The European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) in Flamanville, Normandy - which was supposed to be the model of a new generation of nuclear plants that President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for in the coming decades - was completed 12 years late at a cost of 13.2 billion euros.
French state-owned power company EDF said its new Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor had started work earlier this week but automatically shut down on 4 September as part of a long and complex start-up process.
An EDF spokesman said the Flamanville 3 reactor had been performing divergence operations since early this morning, which refers to the creation of a stable nuclear reaction.
"Teams are resuming operations," he added, confirming that the unit is expected to be connected to the grid by the end of the fall.
French nuclear safety authority ASN said the "shutdown was the result of human error".
Reactors of the same design have been completed in China and Finland.
"The commissioning of the EPR is a long and complex process," EDF added, warning that further automatic shutdowns were likely.
On 2 September, EDF received approval from the ASN to start a fission reaction after loading uranium fuel into the reactor in May and conducting a number of tests.
The Flamanville plant was planned to gradually reach 25% of capacity before being connected to the grid in late fall, a further delay from the previous late summer target.
According to official forecasts, at full power it will be the largest nuclear reactor in France with a capacity of 1,600 megawatts, enough to supply electricity to around three million households. | BGNES
