Universal Registration Document 2021

• At end-2021, all of the units of 900MW in operation had undergone their third ten-year inspections. In 2019, the first fourth ten-year inspection was successfully conducted on Tricast in 1. The second occurred in 2020 at Bugey 2 and was completed in early 2021. In 2021, the VD4 900s continued at Tricast in 2, Bugey 4 and Dampierre 1 (completed in February 2022). The VD4s at Bugey 5 and Gravelines 1, which began in 2021, will be completed in early 2022.
• For the 1,300MW fleet, fifteen third ten-year inspections were conducted (including Belleville 1 and Cattenom 3 in 2021). One third ten-year inspection (VD3) was underway at the end of 2021 (Penly 1), and four are still to be carried out.
• For the N4 series, two second ten-year inspections were carried out, at Chooz 1 and Chooz 2. The VD2 inspection at Civaux 1 is underway and Civaux 2 is still pending.

Regulatory notice

Regulations applicable to basic nuclear facilities (BNFs)

After completion of a procedure set out in the French Environmental Code (Code de l’environnement), the construction of a BNF is authorised by a decree issued by the French Prime Minister after consulting the French Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire, ASN) and on the basis of a report produced by the Minister for Nuclear Safety. The authorisation to commission a BNF is issued by the ASN, also on completion of a procedure set out in the French Environmental Code. The general regulations applicable to basic nuclear facilities, among other issues, make the protection of public safety, health and sanitation, nature and the environment (the “protected interests”) a priority.

Generation allocation contracts

In the 1970-80’s, EDF developed, industrial cooperation with European operators in the nuclear industry, in the form of generation allocation contracts backed by units of the EDF French nuclear fleet.

As at 31 December 2021 EDF has within its fleet ten generating units participating in the contracts (up to 1GW) with the following European energy companies:

• Cattenom 1-2: EnBW (5%);
• Bugey 2-3 : Électricité de Laufenbourg ⁽¹⁾ (17.5 %);
• Tricastin 1 to 4 : Electrabel ⁽²⁾ (12.5 %);
• Chooz B1-B2: Luminus, EDF subsidiary in Belgium (3.3%).

The purpose of these generation allocation contracts is to make available to each partner the proportion of energy generated actually due to it, based on the share of the capacity allocated to it – in return for payment of their share of the construction costs, annual operating costs (including upstream and downstream fuel costs), local taxes and taxes specific to nuclear energy, and the costs relating to decommissioning. In these transactions, the partners have shared with EDF the industrial risks in the development of the fleet and assume the risks linked to the current operation of the power plants. On the other hand, they have no operational role.

Furthermore, EDF signed a second type of generation allocation contract relating to a pool of power plants (totalling approximately 2GW) under which EDF makes available to its partners a share of the electricity determined by the level of availability of all or part of a standard fleet, applied to the capacity share reserved to the partners for the units concerned. These contracts mainly concern the following power plants:

• Chooz B1-B2 (initial series unit N4): Electrabel (21.7%);
• Cattenom 3-4: Électricité de Laufenbourg (7.8%) and the Swiss electricity group CNP (21.8%).

Operation of the nuclear fleet

Nuclear power is a means of generation whose variable cost, mainly fuel-related costs, is low since it represents less than 30% of operating costs (3). The main competitive levers of the nuclear fleet in its operating phase are thus the amount of generated energy and the optimisation of fixed operating and maintenance costs. The levers relating to the fuel cycle are described in section 1.4.1.1.2.3 “The issues relating to the nuclear activity” – “The nuclear fuel cycle and related issues”.

Generation cycle and planned outages

EDF must reconcile the challenges linked to the strong variations in seasonal consumption in France, due to its strong temperature sensitivity, and the availability of maintenance resources together with an efficient use of reactor fuel. To this end, EDF has adopted 12- and 18-month generation cycles for its fleet, which break down as follows at end-2021:

• 28 units of the 900MW series have an operating cycle of approximately 12 months;
• 4 units of the 900MW series, 20 units of the 1,300MW series and 4 units of the N4 (1,450MW) series have an operating cycle of approximately 18 months.

At the end of these operating cycles, shutdown periods are programmed in order to replace a fraction of the fuel loaded in the core and perform maintenance work. Two types of planned outages are alternated at the end of each generation cycle:

• an ordinary shutdown for refuelling for a standard period of approximately 40 days: unloading spent fuel and reloading new fuel is the main operation performed. Some maintenance or periodic testing may also take place during this type of outage;
• a partial inspection for a standard period ⁽⁴⁾ of approximately 85 days: this inspection is dedicated to refuelling and maintenance.

Every ten years, the power plant is shut down for an average period of 180 days ⁽⁵⁾ in average to carry out a ten-year inspection ⁽⁶⁾. This length of time varies according to the works and maintenance programme, as well as the series concerned.

The programme for a ten-year inspection includes the following:

• unloading of spent fuel and reloading of fresh fuel, as at each outage;
• hydro-power test of the primary coolant system, a leak test of the containment, and inspection work of the reactor’s pressure vessel;
• modification work, associated with ten-year safety re-evaluations;
• other specific maintenance operations, in particular renovation or replacement of major components.

At the end of each ten-year inspection, the ASN has to agree to the restarting of the reactor and make any relevant technical recommendations.

Regulatory notice

Nuclear safety authority (ASN)

The Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN) is an independent administrative authority which contributes to the control of nuclear safety, radiation protection in France, and informing the public about these matters.

Its activity is organised around the following missions:

• contributing to drawing up legislation, giving its opinion to the Government on draft decrees and ministerial orders, and making regulatory rulings of a technical nature;
• examining all individual authorisation applications for basic nuclear facilities (BNFs). It grants authorisations except in the case of major BNF authorisations, such as for construction and decommissioning;
• inspection of installations, which it carries out through regulatory scheduled and unannounced on-site inspections, in particular on the occasion of regular compliance checks and safety reviews; these are mandatory for a power plant to continue operating;
• informing the public about the status of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France;
• lastly, in the event of an emergency, the ASN controls the operations to secure the installation carried out by the operator. It informs the public of the situation and assists the Government. In particular, it provides the competent authorities with recommendations on the measures to be taken in respect of civil security.

(1) Axpo Group.

(2) Engie Group.

(3) Operating costs are defined as follows: fuel costs (including downstream expenses in the fuel cycle), operating expenses (purchases and external services, employee expenses) and maintenance costs (expenses and investments). They do not include investments related to construction or decommissioning expenses.

(4) Standard durations represent optimised and realistic reference durations by outage types.

(5) “Normal” duration excluding particular and/or extreme cases.

(6) Pursuant to Article L. 593-18 of the Environmental Code.