(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA is seeking to keep its nuclear production target unchanged for this year even as it carries out additional checks on its reactor pipes after recently finding new cracks, people familiar with the matter said.

The company has a goal of producing 300 to 330 terawatt-hours in 2023. Sticking to that plan depend on whether France’s nuclear safety authority approves the utility’s revised plan for reactor inspections and repairs, the person said. The nuclear giant aims to squeeze in as many additional ultrasound checks on pipes as needed during maintenance halts that are already planned, the person said.

France’s Autorite de Surete Nucleaire is examining EDF’s new program for reactor checks, a spokeswoman said, while declining to comment further. A spokesman for EDF declined to comment.

Power prices in France and neighboring countries rose last week after EDF said it found new pipe defects during checks and repairs at some of its reactors. The nuclear watchdog subsequently asked the utility to take into account the new findings in its inspection plan, which already includes lengthy halts to repair or upgrade its reactors. 

That raised concerns that EDF’s electricity output will struggle to rebound this year after plunging in 2022, after the utility halted about a dozen reactors due to the discovery of so-called stress corrosion cracks at some of its units. 

Reuters was first to report EDF’s plan earlier on Tuesday.       

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