Cruas Nuclear Power Plant
| Company type | Nuclear power plant |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Headquarters | Cruas and Meysse , France |
Area served | Rhone-Alps region |
| Products | Electricity |
Number of employees | 1200 |
| Parent | Électricité de France (EDF) |
The Cruas Nuclear Power Station is located along the Rhône River within the communes of Cruas and Meysse in Ardèche, France. Positioned 35 km to the north of the Tricastin Nuclear Power Center, it primarily serves the Rhone-Alps region.
This facility comprises four pressurized water reactors, each with a capacity of 956 MW, all manufactured by Framatome, resulting in a total output of 3,824 MW. Construction commenced in 1978, with the reactors becoming operational between 1983 and 1984.
Contributing roughly 4 to 5 percent of France's overall electricity generation, Cruas meets nearly 40 percent of the annual energy demand for the Rhone-Alps area. The site covers an area of 148 hectares and employs approximately 1,200 personnel. The plant utilizes water from the Rhône River for cooling purposes.
Incidents
On December 1, 2009, reactor number 4 was taken offline when vegetation obstructed its cooling water intake. This event was assigned a level 2 rating on the International Nuclear Event Scale by the nuclear regulatory body, Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN).
Two anti-nuclear protesters gained access to the facility on December 5, 2011, remaining inside undetected for over fourteen hours while live-streaming their demonstration.
After a seismic event measuring magnitude 4.8 struck the Ardèche region on November 11, 2019, Électricité de France halted operations at Cruas to conduct thorough equipment inspections. This pause affected EDF’s projected annual electricity production.
Mural
In 1991, the plant's management launched an ecological-themed mural project on its cooling towers. Jean-Marie Pierret, known for his work on the Tignes Dam mural, was selected to create the design. Assistance was provided by nine mountaineers who helped paint the structure. The artwork, named Aquarius, represents essential elements of Water and Air and was officially revealed in December of that year. Completing this project required 8,000 labor hours and used approximately 4,000 liters of paint.