Very low-level waste mainly comes from nuclear plant decommissioning, and generally takes the form of rubble (concrete, scrap metal, insulating materials and piping). This type of waste is stored at surface level at the Morvilliers storage centre managed by ANDRA.
Low and medium-level waste comes from nuclear facilities (gloves, filters, resins). This type of waste is stored at surface level at the Soulaines storage centre managed by ANDRA.
The cost of removing and storing short-lived waste (very low-level and low and medium-level) is assessed on the basis of current contracts with transporters, Cyclife France (for waste processing) and ANDRA for operation of the existing storage centres. In 2019, the cost and inventory assumptions were updated by applying a long-term projection based on time series analysis of past waste removal and better characterisation of future volumes. The effects resulting from the work on updating cost estimates led to a €206 million increase in the provision (with an unfavourable effect of €131 million on the income statement, while the rest of the change was recognised via adjustments to fixed assets).
Long-lived low-level waste belonging to EDF essentially consists of graphite waste from the ongoing decommissioning of the former UNGG (natural uranium graphite gas-cooled) reactors.
As this waste has a long lifetime but is lower-level than long-lived medium and high-level waste, specific subsurface storage requirements apply under the French Law of 28 June 2006.
Following the initial geological investigations, in July 2015 ANDRA remitted a report on the proposed storage centre for long-lived low-level waste on a site located in the Soulaines region (Aube) in France. This report was submitted to the ASN for its opinion. Uncertainties remain about the site’s capacity to accommodate all of the waste included in the baseline inventory of the long-lived low-level waste storage facility. Further studies are planned under the 2016-2018 period of the National Plan for the Management of Radioactive Materials and Waste (PNGMDR), concerning both the feasibility of this storage centre and the search for additional waste management solutions. A general industrial strategy for management of all long-lived low-level radioactive waste is currently under examination prior to finalisation under the National Plan.
Long-lived medium and high-level waste essentially comes from processing of spent fuel, and to a lesser extent waste resulting from nuclear plant decommissioning (metallic components that have been inside the reactor).
The French Law of 28 June 2006 requires reversible storage in deep geological layers for this type of waste.
The provision established for long-lived medium and high-level waste is the largest component of provisions for long-term radioactive waste management
Until June 2015 the gross value and disbursement schedules for forecast expenses were based on a scenario of industrial geological waste storage, following conclusions presented in the first half of 2005 by a working group formed under supervision of the State involving representatives of the administrations concerned, ANDRA and the producers of waste (EDF, Orano, CEA). EDF applied a reasonable approach to information supplied by this working group, leading to a benchmark cost, for storage of waste from all producers, of €14.1 billion under the economic conditions of 2003 (€20.8 billion under 2011 economic conditions).
In 2012 ANDRA carried out preliminary conceptional studies for the Cigéo geological storage project, after discussing the technical optimisations proposed by the producers of waste.
On this basis, ANDRA drew up figures which, in compliance with the Law of 28 June 2006, were subjected to a consultation process with waste producers started in late 2014 by the French Department for Energy and Climate (Direction générale de l’énergie et du climat or DGEC). In April 2015 EDF and the other producers sent the DGEC their comments on ANDRA’s report and a joint estimation of the target Cigéo storage cost due to divergent approaches. All this information was included, together with the ASN’s opinion, in a report submitted to the Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.
On 15 January 2016 the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy issued a Ministerial Order setting the target cost for the Cigéo storage project at €25 billion under 2011 year-end economic conditions. The cost as defined constitutes an objective to be met by ANDRA, in compliance with safety standards set by the ASN, working in close liaison with the operators of nuclear installations.
Publication of this Order entailed an €820 million adjustment to the provision shown in EDF’s financial statements at 31 December 2015. The cost of the Cigéo project defined in the Order has replaced the estimated benchmark cost of €20.8 billion previously used by EDF for its financial statements.
In application of this Ministerial Order, the cost of the Cigéo project will be regularly updated, at least at each key milestone in the course of the project’s development (authorisation to create the facility, commissioning, end of the “pilot industrial phase”, safety reviews) in accordance with the opinion of the ASN.
Design studies for future facilities are currently in process with ANDRA and stakeholders. They include technical and economic optimisation and the responses to the safety option report sent by ANDRA to the ASN in April 2016. The law of 11 July 2016 also clarified the concept of reversibility. In 2017 ANDRA opted for a new configuration to provide the basis for the preliminary project.
On 11 January 2018, the ASN issued its opinion on the Cigéo safety option file (DOS Cigéo). It considered that the project had reached satisfactory overall technological maturity at that stage. This opinion included a requirement for examination of alternatives to the proposals for storage of bituminous waste at Cigéo. A group of experts appointed by the DGEC in September 2018 to draw up a report on current bituminous waste management concluded in September 2019 that various options were feasible (storage or neutralisation) but stressed the importance of continuing the studies in order to identify the most appropriate option.
Under the schedule prepared by ANDRA, the application to develop Cigéo (classified as a basic nuclear facility) is now due to be made in 2020, with a corresponding extension for obtaining authorisation. After an industrial pilot phase extending to 2030, producers are still currently working on the hypothesis that the first waste packages would be received in 2031. The provision is therefore unaffected by this change to the schedule.
EDF bears full technical and financial responsibility for decommissioning of the nuclear plants it operates. The decommissioning process is governed by French Law of 13 June 2006, Decree 2007-1557 of 2 November 2007, and the French Environment Code (Articles L. 593-25 and following). It involves the following operations for each site:
The decommissioning scenario adopted by EDF complies with France’s Environmental Code, which requires as short a period as possible to elapse between final shutdown and dismantling in economically acceptable conditions and in compliance with the principles laid down in Article L. 1333-1 of the Public Health Code (radioprotection) and section II of Article L. 110-1 of the Environmental Code (protection of the environment). The intended end-state is industrial use: the sites will be restored to their original condition and will be reusable for industrial facilities.
