EDF shares plunge after faults found at French nuclear power station

EDF said it would stop its plant in Chooz in eastern France because it uses the same kind of reactors. The decision will result in a loss of about 1 Terawatt-hour by the end of 2021, EDF said, adding that this would lead to a downward revision of its EBITDA estimate to a range of 17.5 to 18 billion euros, against the previous target of more than 17.7 billion euros, based on current market prices.

Shares in EDF fell more than 7% at the open on Thursday after the French power giant found faults at a nuclear power station and shut down another plant using the same kind of reactors, leading it to cut its core profit goal for this year.

France's biggest electricity supplier said late on Wednesday some faults were detected close to the welds on the pipes of the safety injection-system circuit in the two reactors of the Civaux power plant in western France. A source close to the matter told Reuters the flaws were linked to corrosion.

As a result of the discovery, an outage at the Civaux plant will last longer than expected, the company said. EDF said it would stop its plant in Chooz in eastern France because it uses the same kind of reactors.

The decision will result in a loss of about 1 Terawatt-hour by the end of 2021, EDF said, adding that this would lead to a downward revision of its EBITDA estimate to a range of 17.5 to 18 billion euros, against the previous target of more than 17.7 billion euros, based on current market prices. Jefferies analysts wrote in a note the update was "clearly a near-term negative," with the new core profit guidance 3.5% below consensus.