ASN authorises loading of the Flamanville nuclear reactor

The French Nuclear Safety Authority has authorised EDF to load the fuel. EDF will now be able to carry out start-up tests and then operate the facility.
The loading of the fuel, which arrived on site last January, is formally equivalent to the commissioning of the reactor. The last time a nuclear reactor was commissioned was in 1999, when the second reactor at Civaux was brought on stream. The Flamanville EPR, with a capacity of 1,650 MW, will operate for 60 years.