Newest French reactor faces further delays due to new issues

PARIS (Reuters) - French state-owned power giant EDF's Flamanville 3 reactor outage was extended for an additional week to carry out maintenance on three more components in the nuclear part of the reactor, an EDF spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

The extension comes after a two-month delay for maintenance on the cooling circuit and rotors of the turbo alternator group. The reactor is currently in the ramp-up phase and has only produced a minimal amount of power since starting last December.

EDF said it could not provide specific details on the components that require maintenance or the cost, but said that the summer date to reach full power has not changed.

The maintenance to the turbo alternator will only be measurable when the reactor is next connected to the grid, the EDF spokesperson said, meaning that there could be an additional shutdown if additional problems are found during the ramp up.

EDF said that the shutdown is a normal part of the ramp-up process where the equipment is stress-tested before operating at full power and will be repeated several times in the coming weeks and months.

Flamanville 3 was the only French reactor completed by EDF over the last 25 years.

The heavily indebted French utility is seeking funding for the construction of six new EPR2 nuclear reactors, as part of the project first proposed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2022.

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; editing by David Evans)