| Water balance and back-up in case of low water levels | All the commitments with the different stakeholders were kept in 2021. The South-West was the only territory where the situation was particularly strained, though emergency requisitioning of hydroelectric reservoirs for drinking water on the River Aude was ultimately not required. The CGEDD-CGAAER appraisers recognised (during the Varenne de l’Eau) EDF’s important role in the water balance of the Adour-Garonne basin and concluded on the need to preserve potential hydroelectric flexibility. |
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| Cameroon | The Nachtigal hydropower project is designed to improve access to water for inhabitants of the project zone. An invitation to tender was recently launched to renovate existing boreholes and drill new ones in zones where access to clean water is an issue for local people. This initiative is part of the programmes to support local infrastructure, and was developed in conjunction with the local population and authorities in charge of community development. |
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| Chile | The “Good energy to improve the quality of life of the Los Burros Sur cove” initiative won first prize in the “Good practices for a more sustainable electricity future” competition organised by Generadoras de Chile. This initiative is organised by EDF and Latin American Power in collaboration with a selection of local stakeholders in the municipality of Freirina. The project features more than ten actions, including installing solar power generation systems, supplying drinking water, and supporting diversified production in the zone, such as diving lessons for fishermen and women or delivery of appropriate equipment. The community received funding to build a desalination plant (with expert technical support from both businesses), as well as additional funding to increase water production. |
On the theme of integrated and shared water management, please also refer to section 1.4.1.3.1.4 “Issues relating to Hydropower generation” and particularly “water management and access”.
Optimising the use of the natural resources consumed by the Group’s value chain is an essential component of the Group’s corporate responsibility.
| Commitments |
The Group undertakes to:
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Nuclear power plants generate radioactive waste from the operation of power plants, recycling of spent fuel, or decommissioning of permanently shut-down plants.
In France, EDF is responsible for what happens to its spent fuel and how it is processed and for the related waste, without any possibility of transfer of responsibility or limitation in time. Orano is responsible for processing spent fuel and ANDRA for the storage of final waste, in accordance with the Article L. 542-12 of the French Environmental Code. In order to meet the significant challenge of radioactive waste, the Group has developed a strategy of control and development of radioactive waste management sector, enabling as of today to ensure that they are taken care of, in operational industrial sectors. Associate fundings enable to answer the present and future needs of dismantling sites and the operation of the Group's nuclear facilities are subject to dedicated provisions (see section 2.2.5 - Risk 5B "Control of radioactive waste treatment and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and securing the associated commitments commitments").
“Short-lived” waste and “long-lived” waste
95% of the volume of radioactive waste produced by EDF is “short-lived” waste (period less than or equal to thirty-one years). It mainly comes from filtration systems, and maintenance and servicing operations. The majority of radioactive waste from plant decommissioning works is also short-lived waste.
“Long-lived” waste (period greater than thirty-one years) is generated by processing spent nuclear fuel, disposing of certain metal parts from reactors, and waste from decommissioning of metal parts close to the core, as well as graphite from natural uranium graphite gas nuclear reactors. This “long-lived” waste accounts for approximately 5% of the volume of radioactive waste eventually produced by EDF.
For HLW a,d ILW-LL (see glossary), the Group is involved alongside ANDRA (the French national agency for radioactive waste management) in the CIGEO project, the ANDRA’s geological disposal. To this end, a cooperation agreement was signed at the end of 2020 between EDF and ANDRA. For the storage of graphite waste the Group participates, as a producer, in the various working groups of the National Plan for the Management of Radioactive Materials and Waste (PNGMDR).
In addition, the organisation of the Cyclife subsidiaries has been completed in order to widen a range of waste treatment solutions, enabling an optimization of the volumes stored.
With regard to the management of spent fuel, EDF's current strategy, in agreement with the State, in terms of the fuel cycle is to practice the treatment of spent fuel, recycling the separated plutonium in the form of MOX fuel (Mixture of plutonium and uranium OXides) and the recycling of reprocessed uranium. The quantities processed by Orano Recyclage at EDF's request, i.e. approximately 1,100 tonnes per year, are determined according to the quantity of plutonium that can be recycled in the reactors authorised to load MOX fuel.
In 2018, the Board of Directors approved the relaunch of the reprocessed uranium recycling process (suspended in 2013 pending the availability of a new industrial scheme), with the first assemblies to be loaded by 2023, subject to the completion of the technical modifications and obtaining the necessary authorisations from the safety authority. The objective is to proceed to recycling in some 900MWe units and then in some 1300MWe units.
On the other hand, spent fuel storage is a key issue for the back-end cycle. Forecasts for the filling of spent fuel storage facilities from EDF's production facilities at the Orano site in La Hague suggest that the La Hague pools will be saturated by 2030.
(1) With regard to food waste, EDF does not consider this information as being material. With respect to its materiality analysis, EDF does not consider information related to the amendments to Article L. 225-102-1 of the French Commercial Code on food shortages, respect for animal welfare and a responsible, fair and sustainable food supply as being material.
(2) See section 1.4.1.1.2.3 “Issues relating to the nuclear activity” - “The nuclear fuel cycle”.
