Universal Registration Document 2020

15.1.1.1 Provisions for spent fuel management

EDF’s currently adopted strategy with regards to the fuel cycle, in agreement with the French State, is to process spent fuel and to recycle the separated plutonium in the form of MOX fuel (Mixed OXide of plutonium and uranium).

The quantities processed by Orano at the request of EDF, totalling approximately 1,100 tonnes per year, are determined based on the quantity of recyclable plutonium in the reactors that are authorised to load MOX fuel.

Consequently, provisions for spent fuel management cover the following services tobe provided by Orano Recyclage:

• removal of spent fuel from EDF’s generation centres, as well as reception and interim storage;
• processing, including conditioning and storage of recyclable matter.

The processing expenses included in these provisions exclusively concern spent fuel that can be recycled in existing facilities, including the portion in reactors but not yet irradiated.

Expenses are measured based on forecast physical flows at the year-end, with reference to the contracts with Orano which define the terms for implementation of the framework agreement for the period 2008-2040. The most recent contract, signed on 5 February 2016, covers the period 2016-2023. These contracts contain price indexes that are revised annually.

In 2018, the Board of Directors approved resumption of recycling of uranium from reprocessing (which had been suspended in 2013 pending availability of a new industrial schema), with loading of the first fuel assemblies scheduled for 2023, subject to technical adaptations and the necessary authorisations from the Nuclear Safety Authority. The objective is to start recycling in certain 900MW units, and later in certain 1300MW units. The corresponding contracts were signed with the respective suppliers in the second quarter of 2018. In 2020, EDF continued to monitor the plants’ preparation trajectory with reference to those contracts and conducted tests of the interfaces between suppliers. The portion of the provision for spent fuel management relating to storage of uranium from reprocessing (€882 million) will be recovered once all the industrial, regulatory and economic conditions for resumption of uranium recycling have been fulfilled, but EDF has no control over fulfilment of some of these conditions.

This provision also covers long-term storage of spent fuel that cannot currently be recycled in existing industrial facilities or under construction: plutonium fuel (MOX) or uranium fuel derived from processing, and fuel from Creys-Malville and Brennilis until fourth-generation reactors become available. Dedicated assets are held in association with this provision, which is unrelated to the operating cycle as defined by the law (see note 15.1.2). The provision is founded on a scenario involving construction, managed by EDF (that will be the nuclear operator), of a centralised underwater storage site at La Hague. This project was presented during the public debate on the National Plan for Managing Radioactive Matter and Waste in 2019-2020, and will be subjected to a specific public consultation in 2021, organised by France’s National Public Debate Commission (CNDP).
 

15.1.1.2 Provisions for long-term radioactive waste management

Following the reclassifications applied at 31 December 2020 as explained in 15.1.1, provisions for long-term radioactive waste management concern the following future expenses:

• interim storage, removal and storage of radioactive waste packages resulting from spent fuel processing;
• direct storage, where relevant, of spent fuel that cannot be recycled in existing installations: specifically plutonium fuel (MOX) or uranium fuel derived from enriched processing, and fuel from Creys-Malville and Brennilis;
• characterisation, processing, conditioning and interim storage of radioactive waste resulting from decommissioning and certain operating waste – these operations were previously covered by the provisions for nuclear plant decommissioning and provisions for waste removal and conditioning;
• final storage of this radioactive waste;
• EDF’s share of the costs of studies, construction, operation and maintenance, shutdown and surveillance of existing and future storage centres.

The volumes of waste concerned by provisions include existing packages of waste and all waste to be conditioned, resulting in particular from plant decommissioning or spent fuel processing at La Hague (comprising all fuel in reactors at 31 December, irradiated or otherwise). These volumes are regularly reviewed, in keeping with the data declared for the purposes of the national waste inventory undertaken by ANDRA.

The provisions for long-term radioactive waste management break down as follows:

Very low-level and low and medium-level waste

Very low-level waste and low and medium-level waste come from nuclear facilities in operation or in the process of being decommissioned:

• very low-level waste mainly comes from nuclear plant decommissioning, and generally takes the form of metals (large components, piping, support structures, etc.) or rubble (concrete, earth, etc.). This type of waste is stored at surface level at the Morvilliers storage centre managed by ANDRA;
• low and medium-level waste (gloves, filters, resins, materials, etc.) is stored at surface level at the Soulaines storage centre managed by ANDRA.

The cost of removing, processing and storing short-lived waste (very low-level and low and medium-level) is assessed on the basis of current contracts with transporters, ANDRA for operation of the existing storage centres and the costs of the Cyclife France plant for waste processing.

In 2019, the inventory assumptions were updated by a time series analysis of past waste removal and better characterisation of future volumes, leading to a €206 million increase in the provision (with an unfavourable effect of €132 million on the income statement, while the rest of the change was recognised via adjustments to fixed assets).