Nuclear Power in France
(updated 26 February 2010)
- France derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy. This is due to a long-standing policy based on energy security.
- France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this.
- France has been very active in developing nuclear technology. Reactors and fuel products and services are a major export.
- It is building its first Generation III reactor and planning a second.
In 2007 French electricity generation was 570 billion kWh gross, and consumption was about 447 billion kWh - 6800 kWh per person. Over the last decade France has exported 60-80 billion kWh net each year and EdF expects exports to continue at 65-70 TWh/yr, to Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and UK. Imports are relatively trivial.
France has 59 nuclear reactors operated by Electricite de France (EdF), with total capacity of over 63 GWe, supplying over 430 billion kWh per year of electricity (net), 78% of the total generated there. Total generating capacity is 116 GWe, including 25 GWe hydro and 26 GWe fossil fuel.
The present situation is due to the French government deciding in 1974, just after the first oil shock, to expand rapidly the country's nuclear power capacity. This decision was taken in the context of France having substantial heavy engineering expertise but few indigenous energy resources. Nuclear energy, with the fuel cost being a relatively small part of the overall cost, made good sense in minimising imports and achieving greater energy security.
As a result of the 1974 decision, France now claims a substantial level of energy independence and almost the lowest cost electricity in Europe. It also has an extremely low level of CO2 emissions per capita from electricity generation, since over 90% of its electricity is nuclear or hydro.
Recent energy policy
In 1999 a parliamentary debate reaffirmed three main planks of French energy policy: security of supply (France imports more than half its energy), respect for the environment (especially re greenhouse gases) and proper attention to radioactive waste management. It was noted that natural gas had no economic advantage over nuclear for base-load power, and its prices were very volatile. Despite "intense efforts" there was no way renewables and energy conservation measures could replace nuclear energy in the foreseeable future.
Early in 2003 France's first national energy debate was announced, in response to a "strong demand from the French people", 70% of whom had identified themselves as being poorly informed on energy questions. A poll had shown that 67% of people thought that environmental protection was the single most important energy policy goal. However, 58% thought that nuclear power caused climate change while only 46% thought that coal burning did so. The debate was to prepare the way for defining the energy mix for the next 30 years in the context of sustainable development at a European and at a global level.
In 2005 a law established guidelines for energy policy and security. The role of nuclear power is central to this, along with specific decisions concerning the European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR), notably to build an initial unit so as to be able to decide by 2015 on building a series of about 40 of them. It also set out research policy for developing innovative energy technologies consistent with reducing carbon dioxide emissions and it defined the role of renewable energies in the production of electricity, in thermal uses and transport.
In 2008 a Presidential decree established a top-level council on nuclear energy, underlining the importance of nuclear technologies to France in terms of economic strength, notably power supply. It will be chaired by the President and include prime minister as well as cabinet secretaries in charge of energy, foreign affairs, economy, industry, foreign trade, research and finance. The head of the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the secretary general of national defence and the military chief of staff will also sit on the council.
In May 2006 the EdF board approved construction of a new 1650 MWe EPR unit at Flamanville, Normandy, alongside two existing 1300 MWe units. The decision was seen as "an essential step in renewing EDF's nuclear generation mix". After considerable preparatory work first concrete was poured on schedule in December 2007 and construction was expected to take 54 months. However, completion is now expected late in 2012.
Under a 2005 agreement with EdF the Italian utility ENEL was to have a 12.5% share in the Flamanville-3 plant, taking rights to 200 MWe of its capacity and being involved in design, construction and operation of it. However, early in 2007 EdF backed away from this and said it would build the plant on its own and take all of the output. Nevertheless, in November 2007 an agreement was signed confirming the 12.5% ENEL investment in Flamanville - expected to cost EUR 450 million - plus the same share of another five such plants. The agreement also gives EdF an option to participate in construction and operation of future ENEL nuclear power plants in Italy or elsewhere in Europe and the Mediterranean.
In January 2006 the President announced that the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)* was to embark upon designing a prototype Generation IV reactor to be operating in 2020, bringing forward the timeline for this by some five years. France has been pursuing three Gen IV technologies: gas-cooled fast reactor, sodium-cooled fast reactor, and very high temperature reactor (gas-cooled). While Areva has been working on the last two types, the main interest in the very high temperature reactors has been in the USA, as well as South Africa and China. CEA interest in the fast reactors is on the basis that they will produce less waste and will better exploit uranium resources, including the 220,000 tonnes of depleted uranium and some reprocessed uranium stockpiled in France.
* Now the Commission of Atomic and Alternative Energy
If the CEA embarks on the sodium-cooled design, there is plenty of experience to draw on - Phenix and Superphenix - and they could go straight to a demonstration plant - the main innovations would be dispensing with the breeding blanket around the core and substituting gas for water as the intermediate coolant. A gas-cooled fast reactor would be entirely new and would require a small prototype as first step - the form of its fuel would need to be unique. Neither would operate at a high enough temperature for hydrogen production, but still CEA would participate in very high temperature R&D with the USA and east Asia.
In December 2006 the government's Atomic Energy Committee decided to proceed with a Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor prototype whose design features are to be decided by 2012 and the start up aimed for 2020. A new generation of sodium-cooled fast reactor with innovations intended to improve the competitiveness and the safety of this reactor type is the reference approach for this prototype. A gas-cooled fast reactor design is to be developed in parallel as an alternative option. The prototype will also have the mission of demonstrating advanced recycling modes intended to improve the ultimate high-level and long-lived waste to be disposed of. The objective is to have one type of competitive fast reactor technology ready for industrial deployment in France and for export after 2035-2040. The prototype, possibly built near Phenix at Marcoule, will be 250 to 800 MWe and is expected to cost about EUR 1.5 to 2 billion and come on line in 2020. The project will be led by the CEA.
Economic Factors
France's nuclear power program has cost some FF 400 billion in 1993 currency, excluding interest during construction. Half of this was self-financed by Electricité de France, 8% (FF 32 billion) was invested by the state but discounted in 1981, and 42% (FF 168 billion) was financed by commercial loans. In 1988 medium and long-term debt amounted to FF 233 billion, or 1.8 times EdF's sales revenue. However, by the end of 1998 EdF had reduced this to FF 122 billion, about two thirds of sales revenue (FF 185 billion) and less than three times annual cash flow. Net interest charges had dropped to FF 7.7 billion (4.16% of sales) by 1998.
In 2006 EdF sales revenue was EUR 58.9 billion and debt had fallen to EUR 14.9 billion - 25% of this.
The cost of nuclear-generated electricity fell by 7% from 1998 to 2001 to about EUR 3 cents/kWh, which is very competitive in Europe. The back-end costs (reprocessing, wastes disposal, etc) are fairly small when compared to the total kWh cost, typically about 5%.
EdF early in 2009 estimated that its reactors provide power at EUR 4.6 cents/kWh and the energy regulator CRE puts the figure at 4.1 c/kWh. The weighted average of regulated tariffs is EUR 4.3 c/kWh. Power from the new EPR units is expected to cost about EUR 5.5 to 6.0 c/kWh.
From being a net electricity importer through most of the 1970s, France now has steadily growing net exports of electricity, and is the world's largest net electricity exporter, with electricity being France's fourth largest export. (Next door is Italy, without any operating nuclear power plants. It is Europe's largest importer of electricity, most coming ultimately from France.) The UK has also become a major customer for French electricity.
France's nuclear reactors comprise 90% of EdF's capacity and hence are used in load-following mode and are even sometimes closed over weekends, so their capacity factor is low by world standards, at 77.3%. However, availability is almost 84% and increasing.
Reactor engineering and new build
The first eight power reactors were gas-cooled, as championed by the Atomic Energy Authority (CEA), but EdF then chose pressurised water reactor (PWR) types, supported by new enrichment capacity.
All French units are now PWRs of three standard types designed by Framatome - now Areva NP (the first two derived from US Westinghouse types): 900 MWe (34), 1300 MWe (20) and 1450 MWe N4 type (4). This is a higher degree of standardisation than anywhere else in the world. (There have been two fast reactor - Phenix which ran for over 30 years, and Super Phenix, which was commissioned but then closed for political reasons.)
Licence renewal: The 900 MWe reactors all had their lifetimes extended by ten years in 2002, after their second 10-yearly review. Most started up late 1970s to early 1980s, and they are reviewed together in a process that takes four months at each unit. A review of the 1300 MWe class followed and in October 2006 the regulatory authority cleared all 20 units for an extra ten years' operation conditional upon minor modifications at their 20-year outages over 2005-14. The 3rd ten-year inspections of the 900 MWe series begin in 2009 and run to 2020. The 3rd ten year inspections of the 1300 MWe series run from 2015 to 2024.
In July 2009 the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) approved EdF's safety case for 40-year operation of the 900 MWe units, based on generic assessment of the 34 reactors. Each individual unit will now be subject to inspection during their 30-year outage, starting with Tricastin-1.
Uprates: In the light of operating experience, EdF uprated its four Chooz and Civaux N4 reactors from 1455 to 1500 MWe each in 2003. Over 2008-10 EdF plans to uprate five of its 900 MWe reactors by 3%. Then in 2007 EdF announced that the twenty 1300 MWe reactors would be uprated some 7% from 2015, within existing licence limits, and adding about 15 TWh/yr to output.
France has exported its PWR reactor technology to Belgium, South Africa, South Korea and China. There are two 900 MWe French reactors operating at Koeberg, near Capetown in South Africa, two at Ulchin in South Korea and four at Daya Bay and Lingao in China, near Hong Kong.
French nuclear power reactors
| Class | Reactor | MWe net, each | Commercial operation |
| 900 MWe | Blayais 1-4 | 910 | 12/81, 2/83, 11/83, 10/83 |
| | Bugey 2-3 | 910 | 3/79, 3/79 |
| | Bugey 4-5 | 880 | 7/79-1/80 |
| | Chinon B 1-4 | 905 | 2/84, 8/84, 3/87, 4/88 |
| | Cruas 1-4 | 915 | 4/84, 4/85, 9/84, 2/85 |
| | Dampierre 1-4 | 890 | 9/80, 2/81, 5/81, 11/81 |
| | Fessenheim 1-2 | 880 | 12/77, 3/78 |
| | Gravelines B 1-4 | 910 | 11/80, 12/80, 6/81, 10/81 |
| | Gravelines C 5-6 | 910 | 1/85, 10/85 |
| | Saint-Laurent B 1-2 | 915 | 8/83, 8/83 |
| | Tricastin 1-4 | 915 | 12/80, 12/80, 5/81, 11/81 |
| 1300 MWe | Belleville 1 & 2 | 1363 | 6/88, 1/89 |
| | Cattenom 1-4 | 1300 | 4/87, 2/88, 2/91, 1/92 |
| | Flamanville 1-2 | 1330 | 12/86, 3/87 |
| | Golfech 1-2 | 1310 | 2/91, 3/94 |
| | Nogent s/Seine 1-2 | 1310 | 2/88, 5/89 |
| | Paluel 1-4 | 1330 | 12/85, 12/85, 2/86, 6/86 |
| | Penly 1-2 | 1330 | 12/90, 11/92 |
| | Saint-Alban 1-2 | 1335 | 5/86, 3/87 |
| N4 - 1450 MWe | Chooz B 1-2 | 1500 | 12/96, 1999 |
| | Civaux 1-2 | 1495 | 1999, 2000 |
| | Total (58) | 63,236 |
|
Differences in net power among almost identical reactors is usually due to differences in cold sources for cooling
Framatome in conjunction with Siemens in Germany then developed the European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR), based on the French N4 and the German Konvoi types, to meet the European Utility Requirements and also the US EPRI Utility Requirements. This was confirmed in 1995 as the new standard design for France and it received French design approval in 2004.
In mid 2004 the board of EdF decided in principle to build the first demonstration unit of an expected series of 1650 MWe Areva NP EPRs, and this decision was confirmed in May 2006, after public debate. The overnight capital cost or construction cost was expected to be EUR 3.3 billion in 2005 Euros (EUR 3.55B in 2008 Euros), and power from it EUR 4.6 c/kWh - about the same as from new combined cycle gas turbine at 2005 gas prices and with no carbon emission charge. Series production costs are projected at about 20% less. EDF then submitted a construction licence application.
Site works at Flamanville on the Normandy coast were complete and the first concrete poured in December 2007, with construction to take 54 months and commercial operation expected in May 2012. In January 2007 EdF ordered the main nuclear part of the reactor from Areva. The turbine-generator section was ordered in 2006 from Alstom - a 1750 MWe Arabelle unit. This meant that 85% of the plant's projected cost was largely locked in. The Flamanville construction schedule has since slipped about nine months, with first power now expected in 2012 and commercial operation in 2013. The reactor vessel nozzle support ring was forged by JSW in 2006 and the vessel manufacturing is at Areva's St Marcel factory. Forging of steam generator shells was at Areva's Le Creusot factory from 2007.
At the end of 2008 the overnight cost estimate (without financing costs) was updated by 21% to EUR 4 billion in 2008 Euros (EUR 2434/kW), and electricity cost to be 5.4 cents/kWh (compared with 6.8 c/kWh for CCGT and 7.0 c/kWh for coal, "with lowest assumptions" for CO2 cost). These costs were confirmed in mid 2009, when EdF had spent nearly EUR 2 billion. A second unit would be more expensive, and would deliver power at 5.5 to 6.0 cents/kWh.
In August 2005 EdF announced that it plans to replace its 58 present reactors with EPR nuclear reactors from 2020, at the rate of about one 1650 MWe unit per year. It would require 40 of these to reach present capacity. This will be confirmed about 2015 on the basis of experience with the initial EPR unit at Flamanville - use of other designs such as Westinghouse's AP1000 or GE's ASBWR is possible. EdF's development strategy selected the nuclear replacement option on the basis of nuclear's "economic performance, for the stability of its costs and out of respect for environmental constraints."
In January 2009 President Sarkozy confirmed that EdF would build a second 1650 MWe EPR, at Penly, near Dieppe. Like Flamanville, it has two 1300 MWe units now operating, and room for two more. GdF-Suez will hold a 25% stake in it, Total will hold 8.3%, and ENEL is expected to take up 8% or its full 12.5% entitlement. Germany's E.On. is considering taking an 8% stake. EdF may sell down its share to 50%. (Areva, GdF-Suez and Total are together bidding to build a pair of EPRs in Abu Dhabi.) The French government owns 85% of EdF, 35.7% of GdF Suez and 88% of Areva, who will build the unit. A public debate on the project will occur, with construction start in 2012. The reactor is expected on line in 2017.
A third new reactor, with majority GdF Suez ownership and operated by it, is likely to follow – in line with the company's announced intentions. A GdF Suez subsidiary, Electrabel, operates seven reactors in Belgium and has equity in two French nuclear plants. ENEL, Total, Areva and E.On are other possible partners.
In February 2010 GdF Suez sought approval to build a 1100 MWe Atmea-1 reactor at Tricastin or Marcoule to operate from about 2020, sparking union opposition due to the private ownership. This would be a reference plant for the Areva-Mitsubishi design, providing a base for export sales.
Power reactors under construction and planned
| | Type | MWe net | Construction start | Grid connection | Commercial operation |
| Flamanville 3 | EPR | 1620 | 12/07 | 9/12 | 2/13 |
Penly 3
| EPR | 1620
| 2012 | 2017 | |
There have been two significant fast breeder reactors in France. Near Marcoule is the 233 MWe Phenix reactor, which started operation in 1974 and was jointly owned by CEA and EdF. It was shut down for modification 1998-2003, returned at 140 MWe for six years, and ceased power generation in March 2009, though it continued in test operation and to maintain research programs by CEA until October 2009.
A second unit was Super-Phenix of 1200 MWe, which started up in 1996 but was closed down for political reasons at the end of 1998 and is now being decommissioned. The operation of Phenix is fundamental to France's research on waste disposal, particularly transmutation of actinides. See further information in R&D section below.
All but four of EdF's nuclear power plants (14 reactors) are inland, and require fresh water for cooling. Eleven of the 15 inland plants (32 reactors) have cooling towers, using evaporative cooling, the others use simply river or lake water directly. With regulatory constraints on the temperature increase in receiving waters, this means that in very hot summers generation output may be limited.
Load-following with nuclear plants
Normally base-load generating plants, with high capital cost and low operating cost, are run continuously, since this is the most economic mode. But also it is technically the simplest way, since nuclear and coal-fired plants cannot readily alter power output, compared with gas or hydro plants. The high reliance on nuclear power in France thus poses some technical challenges, since the reactors collectively need to be used in load-following mode. (Since electricity cannot be stored, generation output must exactly equal to consumption at all times. Any change in demand or generation of electricity at a given point on the transmission network has an instant impact on the entire system. This means the system must constantly adapt to satisfy the balance between supply and demand .)
RTE, a subsidiary of EdF, is responsible for operating, maintaining and developing the French electricity transmission network. France has the biggest grid network in Europe, made up of some 100,000 km of high and extra high voltage lines, and 44 cross-border lines, including a DC link to UK. Electricity is transmitted regionally at 400 and 225 kilovolts. Frequency and voltage are controlled from the national control centre, but dispatching of capacity is done regionally. Due to its central geographical position, RTE is a crucial entity in the European electricity market and a critical operator in maintaining its reliability.
All France's nuclear capacity is from PWR units. There are two ways of varying the power output from a PWR: control rods, and boron addition to the primary cooling water. Using normal control rods to reduce power means that there is a portion of the core where neutrons are being absorbed rather than creating fission, and if this is maintained it creates an imbalance in the fuel, with the lower part of the fuel assemblies being more reactive that the upper parts. Adding boron to the water diminishes the reactivity uniformly, but to reverse the effect the water has to be treated to remove the boron, which is slow and costly, and it creates a radioactive waste.
So to minimise these impacts for the last 25 years EdF has used in each reactor some less absorptive "grey" control rods which weigh less from a neutronic point of view than ordinary control rods and they allow sustained variation in power output. This means that RTE can depend on flexible load following from the nuclear fleet to contribute to regulation in these three respects:
1. Primary power regulation for system stability (when frequency varies, power must be automatically adjusted by the turbine),
2. Secondary power regulation related to trading contracts,
3. Adjusting power in response to demand (decrease from 100% during the day, down to 50% or less during the night, etc.)
PWR plants are very flexible at the beginning of their cycle, with fresh fuel and high reserve reactivity. But when the fuel cycle is around 65% through these reactors are less flexible, and they take a rapidly diminishing part in the third, load-following, aspect above. When they are 90% through the fuel cycle, they only take part in the first aspect above and essentially no power variation is allowed (unless necessary for safety). So at the very end of the cycle, they are run at steady power output and do not regulate or load-follow until the next refueling outage. RTE has continuous oversight of all French plants and determines which plants adjust output in relation to the three considerations above, and by how much.
RTE's real-time picture of the whole French system operating in response to load and against predicted demand shows the total of all inputs. This includes the hydro contribution at peak times, but it is apparent that in a coordinated system the nuclear fleet is capable of a degree of load following, even though the capability of individual units to follow load may be limited.
Plants being built today, eg according to European Utilities' Requirements (EUR), have load-following capacity fully built in.
Fuel Cycle - front end
France uses some 12,400 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate (10,500 tonnes of U) per year for its electricity generation. Much of this comes from Areva in Canada (4500 tU/yr) and Niger (3200 tU/yr) together with other imports, principally from Australia, Kazakhstan and Russia, mostly under long-term contracts.
Beyond this, it is self-sufficient and has conversion, enrichment, uranium fuel fabrication and MOX fuel fabrication plants operational (together with reprocessing and a waste management program). Most fuel cycle activities are carried out by Areva NC.
Conversion: Uranium concentrates are converted to hexafluoride at the 14,000 t/yr Comurhex Pierrelatte plant in the Rhone Valley, which commenced operation in 1959. Current production is at 13,000 t/yr UF6.
In May 2007 Areva NC announced plans for a new conversion project - Comurhex II - with facilities at Malvesi and Pierelatte near Tricastin to strengthen its global position in the front end of the fuel cycle. The EUR 610 million facility will have a capacity of 15,000 tU/yr from the end of 2012, with scope for increase to 21,000 tU/yr. The construction permit for Pierrelatte was issued in March 2009 and that for Malvesi was expected later in 2009.
In January 2009 EdF awarded a long-term conversion contract to Areva. From 2012 this will be filled from the Comurhex II plant.
Areva has undertaken deconversion of enrichment tails at Pierrelatte since the 1980s. Its 20,000 t/yr W2 plant produces aqueous HF which is recycled, and the depleted uranium is stored long-term as chemically stable U3O8.
Enrichment then takes place at the 1978 Eurodif plant at Tricastin nearby, with 10.8 million SWU capacity (enough to supply some 81,000 MWe of generating capacity - about one third more than France's total).
In 2003 Areva agreed to buy a 50% stake in Urenco's Enrichment Technology Company (ETC), which comprises all its centrifuge R&D, design and manufacturing activities. The deal will enable Areva to use Urenco/ETC technology to replace its inefficient Eurodif gas diffusion enrichment plant at Tricastin. The final agreement after approval by the four governments involved was signed in mid 2006.
The new Georges Besse II enrichment plant has been under construction since 2007. The EUR 3 billion two-unit plant, with nominal annual capacity of 8.2 million SWU, is being built and will be operated by Areva NC subsidiary Societe d'Enrichissement du Tricastin (SET). The first stages of the first unit began operating in December 2009 with full capacity to be reached in 2014. Construction of the second unit began in 2009 and it will be fully operational in 2016. Minority stakes in SET are being offered to customers, and Suez took up 5% in 2008. In March 2009 two Japanese companies, Kansai and Sojitz Corp, jointly took up 2.5%, and in June 2009 Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power took a further 2.5%. EdF as principal customer opted for a long-term contract instead, and in February 2009 it signed a EUR 5 billion long-term enrichment contract with Areva. It runs over 17 years to 2025, corresponding with the amortisation of the new plant. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) in mid 2007 signed a long-term enrichment supply contract of over EUR 1 billion - described at that time as Areva's largest enrichment contract outside France.
Enrichment will be up to 6% U-235, and reprocessed uranium will only be handled in the second, north unit. There is potential to expand capacity to 11 million SWU/yr.
When fully operational in 2018 the whole SET plant will free up some 3000 MWe of Tricastin nuclear power plant's capacity for the French grid - over 20 billion kWh/yr (@ 4 c/kWh this is EUR 800 million/yr). The new enrichment plant investment is equivalent to buying new power capacity @ EUR 1000/kW.
Fuel fabrication is at several Areva plants in France and Belgium. Significant upgrading of these plants forms part of Areva's strategy for strengthening its front end facilities. MOX fuel fabrication is described below.
Fuel cycle - back end
France chose the closed fuel cycle at the very beginning of its nuclear program, involving reprocessing used fuel so as to recover uranium and plutonium for re-use and to reduce the volume of high-level wastes for disposal. Recycling allows 30% more energy to be extracted from the original uranium and leads to a great reduction in the amount of wastes to be disposed of. Overall the closed fuel cycle cost is assessed as comparable with that for direct disposal of used fuel, and preserves a resource which may become more valuable in the future. Back end services are carried out by Areva NC.
Used fuel from the French reactors and from otehr countries is sent to Areva NC's La Hague plant in Normandy for reprocessing. This has the capacity to reprocess up to 1700 tonnes per year of used fuel in the UP2 and UP3 facilities. The treatment extracts 99.9% of the plutonium and uranium for recycling, leaving 3% of the used fuel material as high-level wastes which are vitrified and stored there for later disposal. Typical input today is 3.7% enriched used fuel from PWR and BWR reactors with burn-up to 45 GWd/t, after cooling for four years. In 2009 Areva reprocessed 929 tonnes, most from EdF but 79 t from SOGIN in Italy. By 2015 it aims for throughput of 1500 t/yr.
EdF has been sending some 850 tonnes for reprocessing out of about 1200 tonnes of used fuel discharged per year, though from 2010 it will send 1050 t. The rest is preserved for later reprocessing to provide the plutonium required for the start-up of Generation IV reactors. Reprocessing is undertaken a few years after discharge, following some cooling. Some 8.5 tonnes of plutonium and 810 tonnes of reprocessed uranium (RepU) are recovered each year from the 850 tonnes treated each year to 2009. The plutonium is immediately shipped to the 195 t/yr Melox plant near Marcoule for prompt fabrication into about 100 tonnes of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel, which is used in 20 of EdF's 900 MWe reactors. Four more are being licensed to use MOX fuel.
The recycled uranium (RepU) is converted in Comurhex plants at Pierrelatte, either to U3O8 for interim storage, or to UF6 for re-enrichment in centrifuge facilities there or at Seversk in Russia*. Some French RepU UF6 is sent to JSC Siberian Chemical Combine at Seversk for re-enrichment, though this arrangement ceases in 2010. The enriched RepU UF6 from Seversk is then converted in Areva NP's FBFC Romans plant (capacity 150 t/yr) to UO2 fuel. EdF has used it in the Cruas 900 MWe power reactors since the mid 1980s. The main RepU inventory constitutes a strategic resource, and EdF intends to increase its utilization significantly.
* RepU conversion and enrichment require dedicated facilities due to its specific isotopic composition (presence of even isotopes - notably U-232 and U-236 - the former gives rise to gamma radiation, the latter means higher enrichment is required). It is the reason why the cost of these operations may be higher than for natural uranium. However, taking into account the credit from recycled materials (natural uranium savings), commercial grade RepU fuel is competitive and its cost is more predictable than that of fresh uranium fuel, due to uncertainty about future uranium concentrate prices.
Considering both plutonium and uranium, EdF estimates that about 20% of its electricity is produced from recycled materials.
Areva has the capacity to produce and market 150 t/year of MOX fuel at its Melox plant for French and foreign customers (though it is licensed for 195 t/yr). In Europe 35 reactors have been loaded with MOX fuel. Contracts for MOX fuel supply were signed in 2006 with Japanese utilities. All these fuel cycle facilities comprise a significant export industry and have been France’s major export to Japan. At the end of 2008 Areva was reported to have about 30 t/yr in export contracts for MOX fuel, with demand very strong. However, EdF has priority.
To the end of 2009 about 27,000 tonnes of LWR fuel from France and other countries had been reprocessed at La Hague. In addition about 5000 tonnes of gas-cooled reactor natural uranium fuel was earlier reprocessed there and over 18,000 tonnes at the UP1 plant for such fuel at Marcoule, which closed in 1997.
At the end of 2008 Areva and EdF announced a renewed agreement to reprocess and recycle EdF's used fuel to 2040, thereby securing the future of both La Hague and Melox plants. The agreement supports Areva's aim to have La Hague reprocessing operating at 1500 t/yr by 2015, instead of two thirds of that in 2008. It also means that EdF increases the amount of its used fuel sent for reprocessing to 1050 t/yr from 2010, and Melox produces 120 t/yr MOX fuel for EdF then, up from 100 tonnes in 2009. It also means that EdF will recycle used MOX fuel.
France's back-end strategy and industrial developments are to evolve progressively in line with future needs and technological developments. The existing plants at La Hague (commissioned around 1990) have been designed to operate for at least forty years, so with operational and technical improvements taking place on a continuous basis they are expected to be operating until around 2040. This will be when Generation IV plants (reactors and advanced treatment facilities) should come on line. In this respect, three main R&D areas for the next decade include:
- The COEX process based on co-extraction and co-precipitation of uranium and plutonium together as well as a pure uranium stream (eliminating any separation of plutonium on its own). This is designed for Generation III recycling plants and is close to near-term industrial deployment.
- Selective separation of long-lived radionuclides (with a focus on Am and Cm separation) from short-lived fission products based on the optimization of DIAMEX-SANEX processes for their recycling in Generation IV fast neutron reactors with uranium as blanket fuel. This option can also be implemented with a combination of COEX and DIAMEX-SANEX processes.
- Group extraction of actinides (GANEX process) as a long term R&D goal for a homogeneous recycling of actinides (ie U-Pu plus minor actinides together) in Generation IV fast neutron reactors as driver fuel.
All three processes are to be assessed as they develop, and one or more will be selected for industrial-scale development with the construction of pilot plants. In the longer term the goal is to have integral recycling of uranium, plutonium and minor actinides. In practical terms, a technology - hopefully GANEX or similar - will need to be validated for industrial deployment of Gen IV fast reactors about 2040, at which stage the present La Hague plant will be due for replacement.
See also: R&D section below.
Wastes
Waste disposal is being pursued under France's 1991 Waste Management Act (updated 2006) which established ANDRA as the national radioactive waste management agency and which set the direction of research - mainly undertaken at the Bure underground rock laboratory in eastern France, situated in clays. Another laboratory is researching granites. Research is also being undertaken on partitioning and transmutation, and long-term surface storage of wastes following conditioning. Wastes disposed of are to be retrievable.
ANDRA reported to government so that parliament could decide on the precise course of action. After strong support in the National Assembly and Senate the Nuclear Materials and Waste Management Program Act was passed in June 2006 to apply for 15 years. This formally declares deep geological disposal as the reference solution for high-level and long-lived radioactive wastes, and sets 2015 as the target date for licensing a repository and 2025 for opening it. It also affirms the principle of reprocessing used fuel and using recycled plutonium and uranium "in order to reduce the quantity and toxicity" of final wastes, and calls for construction of a prototype fourth-generation reactor by 2020 to test transmutation of long-lived actinides. The cost of the repository is expected to be around EUR 15 billion: 40% construction, 40% operation for 100 years, and 20% ancillary (taxes and insurance). Funds for waste management and decommissioning remain segregated but with the producers rather than in an external fund.
The Act defines three main principles concerning radioactive waste and substances: reduction of the quantity and toxicity, interim storage of radioactive substances and ultimate waste, and deep geological disposal. A central point is the creation of a national management plan defining the solutions, the goals to be achieved and the research actions to be launched to reach these goals. This plan is updated every three year and published according to the law on nuclear transparency and security.
The Act is largely in line with recommendations to government from the Commission Nationale d'Evaluation (CNE) or National Scientific Assessment Committee following 15 years of research. Their report identified the clay formation at Bure as the best site, but was sceptical of partitioning and transmutation for high-level wastes, and said that used MOX fuel should be stored indefinitely as a plutonium resource for future fast neutron reactors, rather than being recycled now or treated as waste.
Earlier, an international review team reported very positively on the plan by ANDRA for a deep geological repository complex in clay at Bure. In 1999 ANDRA was authorised to build an underground research laboratory at Bure to prepare for disposal of high-level wastes (HLW) and long-lived intermediate-level wastes.
ANDRA operates the Soulaines disposal facility for low-level (LLW) and short-lived intermediate-level wastes and the Morvilliers site for very low-level wastes in the Aube district around Troyes east of Paris.
In June 2008, ANDRA officially invited 3,115 communities with favorable geology to consider hosting a facility for disposal of long-lived LLW (FAVL, containing radionuclides with half lives over 30 years). This is 70,000 m3 (18,000 tonnes) of graphite from early gas-cooled reactors and 47,000 m3 of radium-bearing materials from manufacture of catalytic converters and electronic components, as well as wastes from mineral and metal processing that cannot be placed in Andra's low-level waste disposal center in Soulaines. In response, 40 communities put themselves forward for consideration. Preliminary studies completed late in 2008 by ANDRA revealed that two - Auxon and Pars-lès-Chavanges in the Aube district - had suitable rock formations and environments for the disposal of the wastes, but after intense lobbying by anti-nuclear groups both withdrew. Investigations will proceed into 2010. A repository is likely to be in clay, about 15 metres below the land surface.
In April 2007 the government appointed 12 new members to the CNE to report on progress in France's waste management R&D across EdF, CEA, ANDRA and the National Centre for Scientific Research.
EdF sets aside EUR 0.14 cents/kWh of nuclear electricity for waste management costs, and said that the 2004 Areva contract was economically justified even in the new competitive environment of EU electricity supply. Total provisions at end of 2004 amounted to EUR 13.4 billion, EUR 9.6 billion for reprocessing (including decommissioning of facilities) and EUR 3.8 billion for disposal of high-level and long-lived wastes.
Decommissioning
Twelve experimental and power reactors are being decommissioned in France, eight of them first-generation gas-cooled, graphite-moderated types, six being very similar to the UK Magnox type. There are well-developed plans for dismantling these (which have been shut down since 1990 or before). However, progress awaits the availability of sites for disposing of the intermediate-level wastes and the alpha-contaminated graphite from the early gas-cooled reactors. One of these, Marcoule G2, has been fully dismantled.
The other four include the 1200 MWe Super Phenix fast reactor, the veteran 233 MWe Phenix fast reactor, the 1966 prototype 305 MWe PWR at Chooz, and an experimental 70 MWe GCHWR at Brennilis. A licence was issued for dismantling Brennilis in 2006, and for Chooz A in 2007.
Decommissioned Power Reactors in France
| Reactor | Type | MWe | operational |
| Chooz A | PWR | 300 | 1967-91 |
| Brennilis | HWR | 70 | 1967-85 |
| Marcoule G1 | GCR | 2 | 1956-68 |
| Marcoule G2 | GCR | 40 | 1958-80 |
| Marcoule G3 | GCR | 40 | 1960-84 |
| Chinon A1 | CGR | 70 | 1963-73 |
| Chinon A2 | CGR | 200 | 1965-85 |
| Chinon A3 | CGR | 480 | 1966-90 |
| Saint-Laurent A1 | CGR | 480 | 1969-90 |
| Saint-Laurent A2 | CGR | 515 | 1971-92 |
| Bugey 1 | CGR | 540 | 1972-94 |
| Creys-Malville | FNR | 1240 | 1986-97 |
| Phenix | FNR | 233 | 1973-2009 |
Materials arising from EdF's decommissioning include: 500 tonnes of long-liver intermediate-level wastes, 18,000 tonnes of graphite, 41,000 tones of short-lived intermediate-level wastes and 105,000 tonnes of very low level wastes.
Organisation and financing of final decommissioning of the UP1 reprocessing plant at Marcoule was settled in 2004, with the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) taking it over. The total cost is expected to be some EUR 5.6 billion. The plant was closed in 1997 after 39 years of operation, primarily for military purposes but also taking the spent fuel from EdF's early gas-cooled power reactors. It was operated under a partnership - Codem, with 45% share by each of CEA and EdF and 10% share by Cogema (now Areva NC). EdF and Areva will now pay CEA EUR 1.5 billion and be clear of further liability.
EdF puts aside EUR 0.14 cents/kWh for decommissioning and at the end of 2004 it carried provisions of EUR 9.9 billion for this. By 2010 it will have fully funded the eventual decommissioning of its nuclear power plants (from 2035). Early in 2006 it held EUR 25 billion segregated for this purpose, and is on track for EUR 35 billion in 2010. Areva has dedicated assets already provided at the level of its future liabilities.
In April 2008 ASN issued a draft policy on decommissioning which proposes that French nuclear installation licensees adopt "immediate dismantling strategies" rather than safe storage followed by much later dismantling. The policy foresees broad public information in connection with the decommissioning process.
Regulation & Safety
The General Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection (DGSNR) was set up in 2002 by merging the Directorate for Nuclear Installation Safety (DSIN) with the Office for Protection against Ionising Radiation (OPRI) to integrate the regulatory functions and to "draft and implement government policy."
In 2006 the new Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorite de Surete Nucleaire - ASN) ) - an independent body with five commissioners - became the regulatory authority responsible for nuclear safety and radiological protection, taking over these functions from the DGSNR, and reporting to the Ministers of Environment, Industry & Health. However, its major licensing decisions will still need government approval.
Research is undertaken by the ISRN - the Institute for Radiological Protection & Nuclear Safety, also set up in 2002 from two older bodies. ISRN is the main technical support body for ASN and also advises DGSNR.
Research and Development, International
The Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique - CEA) was set up in 1945 and is the public R&D corporation responsible for all aspects of nuclear R&D. In 2009 it was re-named Commission of Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy (CEA).
The CEA has 14 research reactors of various types and sizes in operation, all started up 1959 to 1980, the largest of these being 70 MWt. About 17 units dating from 1948 to 1982 are shut down or decommissioning.
In 2004 the US energy secretary signed an agreement with the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to gain access to the Phenix experimental fast neutron reactor for research on nuclear fuels. The US Department of Energy acknowledged that this fast neutron "capability no longer exists in the USA". The US research with Phenix irradiated fuel loaded with various actinides under constant conditions to help identify what kind of fuel might be best for possible future waste transmutation systems.
In mid 2006 the CEA signed a four-year EUR 3.8 billion R&D contract with the government, including development of two types of fast neutron reactors: an improved version of the sodium-cooled type which already has 45 reactor-years operational experience in France, and an innovative gas-cooled type. Both would have fuel recycling, and by 2009 a decision was due to be taken on whether this should be of uranium and plutonium only, or also minor actinides as envisaged in the USA. The National Scientific Evaluation Committee (CNE) in mid 2009 said that the sodium-cooled model, Astrid, should be a high priority in R&D on account of its actinide-burning potential.
CNE is a high-level scientists’ panel set up under the 1991 nuclear waste management act and charged with reviewing the research and development programs of the organizations responsible for nuclear energy, research and waste. The CNE expressed a clear preference for the concept of heterogeneous recycling of minor actinides, called CCAM. In that process, minor actinides are separated out from used fuel in an advanced-technology reprocessing plant and then incorporated into blanket assemblies which are placed around the core of a future fast reactor. Such blanket assemblies could contain 20% minor actinides or more, dispersed in a uranium oxide matrix. (In homogeneous recycling, the actinides are incorporated into the actual fuel.)
The second line of FNR development is the gas-cooled fast reactor. A 50-80 MWt experimental version - Allegro - is envisaged by 2020. This will have either a ceramic core with 850°C outlet temperature, or a MOX core at 560°C. The secondary circuit will be pressurized water.
In December 2009, as part of a EUR 35 billion program to improve France's competitiveness, the government awarded EUR 1 billion to the CEA for Generation IV nuclear reactor and fuel cycle development. CEA has two priorities in this area:
- fast neutron reactors with sodium or gas cooling and a closed fuel cycle, and
- in collaboration with industry partners, a very high temperature 600 MWt reactor for electricity around 2025 and long-term for process heat applications such as hydrogen production. Areva is developing Antares, the French version of General Atomics' GT-MHR - a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with fuel in prismatic blocks. It says that it "is using the Antares program to make VHTR a pivotal aspect of its new product development."
In March 2007 the CEA started construction of a 100 MWt materials test reactor at Cadarache. The Jules Horowitz reactor is the first such unit to be built for several decades, and has been identified by the EU as a key infrastructure facility to support nuclear power development, as well as producing radioisotopes and irradiating silicon for high-performance electronic use. The EUR 500 million cost is being financed by a consortium including CEA (50%), EdF (20%), Areva (10%) and EU research institutes (20%). Since the anticipated planned high-density U-Mo fuel will not be ready in time for 2013, it will start up on uranium silicide fuel enriched to 27%.
In relation to introduction of Generation IV reactors by 2040, the CEA is investigating several fuel cycle strategies:
- Optimising uranium and plutonium recycling from present and EPR reactors, then co-management of U&Pu and possibly Np in Gen IV fast reactors.
- Recycling these with a low proportion of minor actinides (eg 3% MA) in driver fuels of Gen IV fast reactors.
- Recycling (in about one third of France's reactors) with up to 30% of minor actinides in MOX blanket assemblies of Gen IV fast reactors.
CEA is part of a project under the Generation IV International Forum investigating the use of actinide-laden fuel assemblies in fast reactors - The Global Actinide Cycle International Demonstration (GACID). See Generation IV paper.
In May 2008 cabinet approved creation of Agency France Nuclear International (AFNI) under CEA to provide a vehicle for international assistance. Its purpose is to help to set up structures and systems to enable the establishment of civil nuclear programs in countries wanting to develop them and will draw on all of the country's expertise in this. It is guided by a steering committee comprising representatives of all the ministries involved (Energy, Foreign affairs, Industry, Research, etc) as well as representatives of other major French nuclear institutions including the CEA itself and probably ASN, though this is yet to be confirmed. Its work will be confined to countries with which France has signed a nuclear cooperation agreement, and the initial focus is on UAE. It will function on a fee for service basis.
Non-proliferation
France is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which it ratified in 1992 as a nuclear weapons state. Euratom safeguards apply in France and cover all civil nuclear facilities and materials.
In addition, IAEA applies its safeguards activities in accordance with the trilateral "voluntary offer" agreement between France, Euratom and the IAEA which entered into force in 1981.
France undertook nuclear weapons tests 1960-95 and ceased production of weapons-grade fissile
It undertook nuclear weapons tests 1960-96 and ceased production of weapons-grade fissile materials in 1996. Since then it has ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Sources:
EdF, Nov 1996, Review of the French Nuclear Power Programme, EdF web site.
IAEA 2003, Country nuclear power profiles.
Nuclear Review, July 2001.
NuclearFuel & Nucleonics Week, August 2005
Areva - major review of paper in July 2007
RTE web site
參考來源:World Nuclear Association
