Nuclear Power Plant,
EPR (1 unit), Basse-Normandie, FRANCE
Owner/Operator: EDF
Main contractor (civil works): Bouygues TP
Post-Tensioning system used: FREYSSINET
Post-Tensioning system supply and installation: GPN, FREYSSINET and VSL Joint Venture
Role of ELIAS: Production Manager and Deputy Project Director
Project Description
The Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant is located at Flamanville, Manche, France on the Cotentin Peninsula. Housing already 2 Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs), the NPP started the construction on the third reactor, Flamanville-3, in December 2007. The unit is an Areva European Pressurized Reactor type (also called “EPR“) and is planned to have a nameplate capacity of 1,650 MWe.
FA-3 under construction in 2011
3D animation of EPR Nuclear Power Plant construction principle (in French)
About Post-Tensioning
The reactor building is made of a double-shell concrete containment. The inner-shell is densely post-tensioned (about 2400 tons of PT strands) with 3 types of tendon geometry:
- Vertical tendons
- Gamma tendons
- 360° full-loop Horizontal tendons.
3 Types of PT tendon
The tendons are deviated around the different hatches penetrating the reactor building. These deviations can reach up to 4.5 m height for horizontal tendons, increasing even more the cumulative angular deviation and the friction coefficient which are already particularly high for these tendons.
PT Cable Layout around equipment hatch
The PT system is made of 55 strands and is bonded: bare strands injected with cement grout.
The post-tensioning activities (Threading, Stressing & Grouting) were carried out from June 2014 to May 2015.
Equitension of Gamma tendons (April 2015)