EDF says radioactive leak at Civaux reactor not due to welding

But work on the plant is already behind schedule and EDF now faced "a potential major further delay" because of this new problem, an industry source familiar with the situation had told Reuters on Monday.

The leak detected at EDF's Civaux nuclear plant in southwestern France is not due to welding but to problems with a system put in place to test the waterproofing of the primary circuit, said Regis Clement, deputy director of nuclear production at the French power giant.

EDF on Monday said it had discovered a radioactive leak last week in the primary cooling circuit at its Civaux plant, adding that there was no safety risk and no radioactivity was measured outside the plant. The Civaux 1 1,500-megawatt reactor has been shut since August 2021 for scheduled 10-year maintenance.

Although Civaux is one of several reactors affected by corrosion problems, which have led EDF to cut its 2022 nuclear output

forecast repeatedly, the French utility said the incident was not linked to that problem. But work on the plant is already behind schedule and EDF now faced "a potential major further delay" because of this new problem, an industry source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday.