...September 16, 2019 PARIS (S&P Global Ratings) Sept. 16, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that technical issues revealed at Electricite de France S.A. (EDF; A-/Stable/A-2) power plants indicate higher operating risk for the French electric utility company. EDF and its nuclear reactor engineering division Framatome informed the nuclear safety authority (ASN) on Sept. 10, of deviations from technical standards regarding the manufacturing of some steam generators installed in French power plants. While EDF has defined the number of reactors potentially affected (between five and seven of its fleet of 58 reactors), the nature of the technical issues and potential implications of any remedy work remain uncertain. Frederic Menage, the head of nuclear safety at ASN's technical arm, has stated that EDF and Framatome are confident that inspections on the steam generators (about 20 affected, spread over seven reactors) will reveal they are safe. This situation implies increased operating risk for...
