Risks related to downstream fuel cycle are described in chapter 2 risk 5B "Control of radioactive waste treatment and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and ability to meet related commitments" and 5D "Control of the fuel cycle".
As the producer of the waste, 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 management of the long-term storage of final waste, in accordance with the Article L. 542-12 of the French Environmental Code.
Management of radioactive and non-radioactive waste is governed by Articles L. 541-1 et seq. of the French Environmental Code.
EDF’s current strategy for the nuclear fuel cycle, in agreement with the French government, is to process spent fuel and wherever possible recycle substances such as plutonium separated in this process in the form of MOx fuel. The quantities handled are determined by the amount of recycled plutonium in reactors allowed to load MOx fuel (“equal flows” principle). The recycling capacity of nuclear units in the French fleet has allowed the processing of around 1,100 tonnes of spent fuel per year.
Spent fuel awaiting processing is temporarily stored underwater in cooling pools, first in pools at the plants and subsequently in those of Orano’s reprocessing plant La Hague. The storage conditions are recognised as being safe over a century-scale period of time. Approximately ten years after the spent enriched natural uranium fuel has been unloaded from the reactor, it is processed to separate the recyclable products from waste. The waste is subsequently conditioned and stored at the La Hague site in specific premises.
The relationship between EDF and Orano concerning the transport, processing and recycling of spent fuel was formalised for the 2008-2040 period by a framework agreement signed on 19 December 2008. In February 2016, EDF and Orano signed an implementation agreement covering the 2016-2023 period as well as the associated supply contracts for the MOx assemblies.
In addition, and in anticipation of the storage needs of the nuclear generation fleet, EDF is working on the design of a large spent fuel storage pool. This will make possible the long-term storage (for around 100 years) of spent MOx and ERU fuel from PWRs and from fuel assemblies of the Superphénix fast-neutron reactors, stored in the APEC (1) storage pool pending multi-recycling in third-generation pressurised water reactors, or recycling in fourth-generation reactors (Gen IV).
The need for additional storage capacity and the relevance of an underwater storage solution were confirmed at the conclusion of the public debate organised by the CNDP (2) (from 17 April to 25 September 2019). The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the ASN published their conclusions on 21 February 2020 and noted, in particular, “the continuing work to set up additional centralised underwater storage capacities”.
Following this public debate and the favourable opinion on the safety options file (DOS) issued by the ASN on 23 July 2019, EDF now has the fundamentals required to pursue its project.
EDF has initiated the public consultation process for a facility at La Hague (Manche), within the perimeter of the Orano site. On 3 March 2021, the CNDP, which EDF consulted in early 2021, decided that the project would be the subject of a preliminary consultation, which began on 22 November 2021. Following a proposal from EDF, the CNDP suspended the preliminary consultation on 3 February 2022 on its website (debatpublic.fr), in order to develop more in-depth consultation procedures to better cover the Manche area and the issues raised during the consultation, and to give itself the time necessary to set them up. This decision is consistent with EDF’s approach, which aims to promote open dialogue about the project with citizens, elected officials and associations. The preliminary consultation will resume on 20 June 2022 and continue until 8 July 2022, after the elections, following procedures that will be specified in spring 2022. This consultation is a prerequisite for EDF to submit a request for authorisation to create the facility with a view to commissioning it in 2034.
The construction cost of the facility, estimated at €20201.25 billion, is included in the financial trajectory of the Grand Carénage programme.
In order to maintain flexibility in the storage of spent fuel, Orano, at EDF’s request, is developing a technique that will enable it to densify its existing pools at La Hague and, for the first time in France, it is studying the possibility of dry storage of spent fuel. The safety options file on the densification project for the La Hague pools was assessed by IRSN (3), which issued an opinion on 28 May 2021 stating that the safety options selected for this project are appropriate. Provisions have been set aside for the dry storage and densification scenarios.
Radioactive waste, depending on its nature, level of radioactivity and the lifespan of its radionuclide components, has been classified into different categories: from High-Level Waste (HLW), to Very Low-Level Waste (VLLW) on to Low-Level Waste (LLW) and Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW). It is called Long-Lived (LL) when it remains active for more than 31 years.
The processing of spent fuel enables the vitrification of HLW, which provides very high-quality conditioning with a reduced volume. For example, all of the HLW produced in this way, corresponding to the operation of the early plants and to 50 years of operation of the current PWR facilities, would represent a volume of approximately 9,300 cubic metres (the electricity consumption of one million people for one year generates approximately 3 cubic metres of HLW).
The structures of the assemblies (shells and nozzles, clad pieces, etc.) separated during the processing of spent fuel, constitute ILW-LL. They are currently compacted and conditioned in stainless steel containers. ILW-LL waste also results from certain operating, maintenance and dismantling activities. For example, the total volume of ILW-LL waste, including in particular the waste from the operation and decommissioning of shut down facilities, including Uranium Natural Graphite Gas reactors and the waste from the current PWR facilities, taking into account the 50 years operating life of the power plants and the decommissioning operations, represents about 37,000 cubic metres. It generates less heat compared to HLW and thus is suitable for faster storage.
HLW and ILW-LL from the reprocessing of spent fuel is temporarily stored in dedicated Orano facilities in La Hague, pending the storage in deep geological layers, as is currently envisaged as part of ANDRA’s Centre industriel de stockade géologique (Cigéo) project. The Cigéo project is also the French deep geological storage facility project for ILW and HLW radioactive waste. It is designed to store highly radioactive and long-lived waste produced by all French nuclear facilities until their decommissioning, and by the processing of spent fuel used in nuclear power plants. After 15 years of research, evaluation and public debate, the principle of deep geological storage was adopted by the French Law no. 2006-739 28 June 2006 on the sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste as a safe long-term solution to manage this type of waste without shifting the burden onto future generations.
The centre is to be located in the east of France at the border of the Meuse and Haute-Marne departments. Cigéo will consist of surface facilities that will be used to receive and prepare waste packages as well as to excavate and build the necessary underground structures. The waste will be stored in underground facilities some 500 metres below ground in an impermeable argillaceous rock formation able to contain radioactivity over very long periods (several hundreds of thousands of years). Cigéo is designed to operate for at least 100 years and provides flexibility in order to give future generations a maximum number of possibilities to adapt it as needed.
(1) Spent fuel storage pool at the Creys-Malville power plant.
(2) “Commission nationale du débat public”, i.e. French national public debate Committee.
(3) IRSN : Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (French Radiation protection and Nuclear Safety Institute).
