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34-569: The Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant is located at Flamanville, Manche , France on the Cotentin Peninsula . The power plant houses two pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that produce 1.3 GW e each and came into service in 1986 and 1987, respectively. It produced 18.9 TWh in 2005, which amounted to 4% of the electricity production in France. In 2006 this figure was about 3.3%. At the time, there were 671 workers regularly working at

68-596: A public accountant. If an account is found to be correct, then the Court issues a quietus to discharge the accountant. If, however, the account is found to be in error, then a debit order is issued against the defaulter. Either order is subject to appeal in the Court or final appeal at the French Supreme Court. Audits focus on: A decision from a lower audit court may be appealed at the main Court of Audit within two months of its being handed down. Afterwards, if

102-424: A report. Following this, ASN requested EDF to extend the welding checks to other systems. Hot functional tests had to be postponed. In July 2018, EDF further delayed fuel loading to Q4 2019 and increased the project's cost estimate by a further €400 million ($ 467.1 million USD). The latest project cost estimates by EDF amounted to €10.9 billion ($ 12.75 billion USD), three times the original cost estimates. Hot testing

136-581: A response, EDF did not dispute the findings of the court. In the same month, France's energy minister Barbara Pompili noted the high costs and delays, calling the project "a mess". In December 2022, EDF announced a further delay of at least six months with an estimated cost increase of €500 million due to more work to establish a new process for the stress relieving heat treatment of some welds close to sensitive equipment. Estimated total costs increased to €13.2 billion. Fuel loading started on 8 May 2024 and has been completed on 22 May 2024. On 3 September 2024,

170-848: Is Pierre Moscovici since June 2020. He took over Didier Migaud who himself took over in 2010 following the death of Philippe Séguin . Other judicial officers are generally split into three groups by rank: All judicial officers are graduates from the National Administration Academy ( École nationale d'Administration ) or recruited from the Office of the Comptroller-General ( inspection générale des Finances ). The French Court of Audit has original jurisdiction to audit and adjudicate accounts made by public, management, and government accountants. The Court also has authority to audit persons acting but not certified as

204-410: Is an Areva European Pressurized Reactor type and is planned to have a nameplate capacity of 1,650 MWe. EDF estimated the cost at €3.3 billion and stated it would start commercial operations in 2012, after construction lasting 54 months. The latest cost estimate (July 2020) is at €19.1 billion, with commissioning planned tentatively at the end of 2022. On 3 December 2012 EDF announced that

238-490: Is audited and found not to be in default, then the Court issues a quietus ( arrêt de quitus or arrêt de décharge ) acquitting and discharging the official and settling the account. The Court of Audit of France stands above and heads 27 regional inferior financial courts referred to in French as Chambres régionales des comptes , or regional audit courts. The Court of Audit acts as the administrative head and court of appeal for

272-744: Is no longer extant. The Cour des Comptes was reorganized by Napoleon through the Law of September 16, 1807. In 1842, it eventually moved away from the Île de la Cité into the Palais d'Orsay . In May 1871 at the end of the Paris Commune , the Palais d'Orsay was entirely destroyed by fire and the Cour des Comptes was temporarily relocated in the Palais-Royal . Its relocation in the aile de Marsan of

306-466: Is operated from there to Alderney and Guernsey by Manche Iles Express. Upper part Bazan, lower part Sesmaisons. On its territory is installed the seaside Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant , established there in the 1980s, with two PWR reactors of 1300 MWe each, which were put into operation in 1986 and 1987. Flamanville has been selected for the installation of the first French EPR reactor, which will be Flamanville's third reactor, near

340-601: The Court of Auditors of Paris, permanently established in the early 14th century. It was re-established in 1807 by Napoleon . Its three duties are to conduct financial audits of accounts, conduct good governance audits, and provide information and advice to the French Parliament and Administration. The Court verifies the good form of accounting and the proper handling of public money. Its mandate covers most public institutions and some private institutions, including

374-658: The Louvre Palace was considered but only some of its archives were moved there, and in 1897 the Marsan Wing was attributed to what is now the Musée des Arts Décoratifs . Instead, it was decided to build a new office specifically for the Cour des Comptes. The new building on rue Cambon was designed by architect Constant Moyaux , and after the latter's death in October 1911 by Paul Guadet  [ fr ] , on

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408-510: The British loan guarantees for Hinkley Point C require Unit 3 to be operational by 2020, that the regulator will rule on the future of Unit 3 mid-2017 and that one possible outcome of this ruling can delay its opening far beyond 2018, thus jeopardizing the British loan guarantees thereby preventing EDF from building the EPRs at Hinkley Point. In February 2017 renewed delays in the construction of

442-415: The Court can ask the local prefect to intervene and oversee the handling of public funds until budget problems have been corrected. Each court is divided into divisions and includes a judge-in-Charge - who is also either a puisne or deputy judge at the main Court of Audit - and two associate judges. Judges have security of tenure and some also serve as Commissioners-in-Council with prosecutorial duties under

476-439: The Court judges the accounting of public financial and budgetary officials, collection agencies, or treasury departments, e.g., treasurers, paymasters-general, tax collectors, certified public accountants, and can fine them for late reporting. In such cases, the Court fines public accounting officials for the exact amount of any sum of money that, due to an error on their part, they have unduly paid or failed to recover on behalf of

510-553: The EPR-reactors at Taishan Nuclear Power Plant prompted EDF to state that Flamanville 3 remains on schedule to start operations by the end of 2018, assuming it receives regulator approval. In June 2017, the French regulator issued a provisional ruling that Flamanville 3 is safe to start. In January 2018, cold functional tests were completed. In February, EDF found that some secondary cooling circuit welds did not meet specifications, causing EDF to carry out further checks and issue

544-653: The Flamanville EPR plant has also been questioned due to the danger of flooding of the kind experienced during the 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood . In June 2015 multiple faults in cooling system safety valves were discovered by ASN. In September 2015 EDF, announced that the estimated costs had escalated to €10.5 billion, and the start-up of the reactor was delayed to the fourth quarter of 2018. The delays of Unit 3 of Flamanville received additional attention when in December 2016 The Economist reported that

578-499: The Office of the Prosecutor at the Court of Audit of France. The regional courts focus on: Accounts found to be in error are entered into debit and accounts in default or fictitious are referred to the local prefect. Accounts for towns of fewer than 3,500 inhabitants and receipts totalling less than 750,000 euros are automatically referred to the local county or regional treasurer. A regional audit court's ruling may be appealed in

612-493: The Prosecutor - with a Chief Prosecutor, Chief Deputy Prosecutor, and two deputy prosecutors - that represents the Government before the Court. The Court is split into seven divisions, each with nearly 30 judges ordinary and deputy judges and headed by a division president. Jurisdiction is split between the seven divisions generally by subject matter, e.g., finance, health and social security, and so forth. The Court's president

646-543: The State. A debet ( débet ), from Latin "he owes" and not limited in amount, is entered against a defaulting person, and the defaulter becomes the State's debtor. Public and government accountants must therefore have performance liability insurance. Often, however, the Ministry of Finance alleviates a defaulter by granting an abatement of his arrears as the full amount is likely too much to ever pay out of pocket. If an account

680-591: The central Government, national public corporations , social security agencies (since 1950), and other public services (since 1976). During the Ancien Régime , the Court of Auditors was located in the French monarchy's ancestral Palais de la Cité , between the Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie . In 1740 it moved to a new building in the same complex, designed by Jacques Gabriel , which

714-468: The end of 2022. In January 2022, more delays were announced, with fuel loading continuing until mid-2023, and again in December 2022, delaying fuel loading to early 2024. Fuel loading was completed in May 2024 and the launch of the reactor was declared "imminent" in late July 2024, eventually starting up in early September 2024. Construction on a new reactor, Flamanville 3, began on 4 December 2007. The new unit

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748-572: The end of 2022. It is estimated the repairs will add €1.5 billion to the costs, bringing the total to €12.4 billion. Further cost increases due to additional time needed to repair 110 defective welds have increased the cost to €12.7 billion. In July 2020, the French Court of Audit finalised an eighteen-month in-depth analysis of the project, concluding that the total estimated cost reaches up to €19.1 billion. The severe delays incurred additional financing costs, as well as added taxes and levies. In

782-463: The estimated costs have escalated to €8.5 billion ($ 11 billion), and the completion of construction was being delayed to 2016. The next day the Italian power company Enel announced it was relinquishing its 12.5% stake in the project, and five future EPRs. They would be reimbursed for their project stake of €613 million plus interest. In November 2014 EDF announced that completion of construction

816-553: The financial stream, hearing appeals from regional courts and issuing rule promulgation orders and administrative directives. Regional audit courts were established in 1982 to help unburden the main Court of Audit of its heavy caseload. Since their creation, they have original jurisdiction for most local, county, and regional accounting matters in continental France and its overseas dependencies. This means they audit accounts as well as public institutions to check for fraud, embezzlement, or misappropriation. In case of budgetary discrepancies,

850-454: The number one reactor to be disconnected from the power grid. EDF initially estimated the reactor would be operational within a week, but later estimated the end of March. Units 1 and 2 were under enhanced surveillance by regulator Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN) from 2019 to 2022 because of shortcomings in some operating activities, a high number of maintenance faults, poor mastery of certain maintenance operations, and inadequate quality of

884-741: The parties are still not satisfied, the Council of State will hear the case on final appeal. The French Court of Audit puts together its auditing program entirely independently and is vested with very broad powers of review and examination. It publishes and submits an annual audit report to the French President and to Parliament. The report provides a detailed account of the government's poor, or possibly fraudulent, practices and criticizes poor governance and use of public funds. The Court also audits authorizing officers ( ordonnateurs ) and their expenditures. In addition to reporting poor practices,

918-412: The plant. A third reactor at the site, an EPR unit, began construction in 2007 with its commercial introduction scheduled for 2012. As of 2020 the project was more than five times over budget and years behind schedule. Various safety problems have been raised, including weakness in the steel used in the reactor. In July 2019, further delays were announced, pushing back the commercial introduction date to

952-485: The producer for further details and possible consequences. Various safety problems have been raised, including weakness in the steel used in the reactor together with heterogeneity of the steel alloy forged high integrity components used in the reactor pressure vessel, that have also been shown to be present in Japanese-sourced components that have entered the French nuclear equipment supply chain. The safety of

986-441: The reactor started test operation, but the following day it shut down automatically, possibly due to a configuration error. The reactor suffered a second automatic shutdown on September 17. On 9 February 2017 a mechanical problem with a fan in the turbine hall of unit 1 caused an explosion and fire, causing five people to be treated for smoke inhalation . While the non-nuclear accident did not cause any radioactive leak, it did cause

1020-511: The site of a former convent whose church survives nearby as Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption . It was inaugurated in 1912 by President Armand Fallières . The Cour des Comptes remains located there after more than a century. The president ( premier président ) of the Court of Audit is appointed by Order-in-Council of the Cabinet . Once appointed, the president of the Court and division presidents have security of tenure. The Court has its own Office of

1054-451: The ten-year inspection documentation of unit 1. This involved about 30 ASN inspections a year. Flamanville, Manche Flamanville ( French pronunciation: [flamɑ̃vil] ) is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France . The port of Flamanville, in the northern part of the commune, is known as Diélette . During the summer a high-speed passenger ferry

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1088-475: The two existing ones. Whether or not Flamanville 3, EPR, actually becomes operational is political, as many prominent politicians are opposed to it. There are also plans for later fourth reactor. This Manche geographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Court of Audit (France) The Court traces its origins back to the Middle Ages and views itself as succeeding

1122-478: Was delayed to 2017 due to delays in component delivery by Areva . In April 2015 Areva informed the French nuclear regulator, Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN), that anomalies had been detected in the reactor vessel steel, causing "lower than expected mechanical toughness values". Segolene Royal , Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy in the Second Valls Government , asked

1156-464: Was pushed back to the end of 2018. In January 2019, a further one-month delay in hot testing was announced. In June 2019 the regulator ASN determined that eight welds in steam transfer pipes passing through the two-wall containment, that EDF had hoped to repair after startup, must be repaired before the reactor is commissioned. On 29 June 2019, it was announced that the start-up was once again being pushed back, making it unlikely it could be started before

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