Nuclear power in France

In France, as of 2002, Électricité de France (EDF) — the country's main electricity generation and distribution company — manages the country's 59 nuclear power plants. As of 2008, these plants produce 87.5% of both EDF's and France's electrical power production (of which much is exported),¹ making EDF the world leader in production of nuclear power by percentage. In 2004, 425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh was from nuclear power (78.8%).¹

France is the world's largest net exporter of electric power, exporting 18% of its total production (about 100 TWh) to Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, and Germany, and its electricity cost is among the lowest in Europe.¹²

In 2006, the French Government asked Areva and EDF to build a next generation nuclear reactor, the EPR (European Pressurized Reactor), at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant. This was followed in 2008 by an Presidential announcement of another new EPR, spurred by high oil and gas prices.³ A site for that unit should be selected in 2009, and construction should start in 2011.

History

France has a long relationship with nuclear power, starting with Henri Becquerel's discovery of natural radioactivity in the 1890s and continued by famous French nuclear scientists like Pierre and Marie Curie.

Nuclear research was discontinued for a time after the war because of the instability of the Fourth Republic and the lack of finances available.⁴ However, in the 1950s a civil nuclear research program was started, a byproduct of which would be plutonium. In 1956 a secret Committee for the Military Applications of Atomic Energy was formed and a development program for delivery vehicles started. In 1957, soon after the Suez Crisis and the diplomatic tension with both the USSR and the United States, French president René Coty decided the creation of the C.S.E.M. in the then French Sahara, a new nuclear tests facility replacing the C.I.E.E.S.⁵ See France and nuclear weapons.

Technical overview

Drawing such a large percentage of overall electrical production from nuclear power is unique to France. This reliance has resulted in certain necessary deviations from the standard design and function of other nuclear power programs. For instance, in order to meet changing demand throughout the day, some plants must work as load following plants, whereas most nuclear plants in the world operate as base load plants, and allow other fossil or hydro units to adjust to demand. Nuclear power in France has a total capacity factor of around 77%, which is considerably low due to load following, but availability is around 84%, indicating excellent overall performance of the plants.

The first 8 power reactors in the nation were gas cooled reactor types (UNGG reactor), whose development was pioneered by CEA, but, coinciding with a uranium enrichment program, EdF developed pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology which eventually became the dominating type. The gas-cooled reactors located at Brennilis, Bugey, Chinon, and Marcoule have all been shut down.

All operating plants today are PWRs with the exception of the Phénix, which was part of an initiative to develop sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor technology. The Superphénix was a larger, more ambitious version, but was shut down.

The PWR plants were all developed by Framatome (which is now Areva) from the initial Westinghouse design^{citation needed}. All of the PWR plants are one of three variations on the design, which have output powers of 900 MWe, 1300 MWe, and 1450 MWe, giving France the largest degree of nuclear plant standardization in the world.

900 MWe class

There are a total of 34 of these reactors in operation; most were constructed in the 1970s and the early 1980s. In 2002 they had a uniform review and all were granted a 10 year life extension.

This three loop design (three steam generators and three primary circulation pumps) was also exported to a number of other countries, including:

1300 MWe class

There are 20 reactors of this design (four steam generators and four primary circulation pumps) operating in France.

1450 MWe (N4) class

There are only 4 of these reactors, housed at two separate sites: Civaux and Chooz. These reactors came online in 1996, 97, and 99 and in 2003; due to a good operating and safety record all were uprated to a power of 1500 MWe. It is unlikely that more of this class will be built because it is expected to be succeeded by an even larger, 1650 MWe EPR design.

European Pressurized Reactor

The next generation design for French reactors will be the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), which will have a broader scope than just France with a pilot plant in Finland undergoing construction and with marketing activities extending to the United States and China. The site for first French EPR is undergoing groundwork at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant, which should be operational in 2012.

This reactor is one of the newest reactor designs in the world. It was developed by Areva contributing its N4 reactor technology and the German company Siemens contributing its Konvoi reactor technology. Keeping with the French rationale of a highly standardized plant and proven technology, it uses more traditional active safety systems and is more similar to current plant designs than international competitors such as the AP1000 or the ESBWR.

In 2005 EdF announced plans to replace the current nuclear plants with new 1600 MWe units as they reach the end of their licensed life, starting around 2020. This decisions confirms that France will continue to use nuclear power as their primary electricity source indefinitely. In order to replace the current 58 reactors, one new large unit will have to be built about every year for about 40 years.

Fusion reactors

While fusion power is not expected to be feasible for many more decades, France has shown promise to be a forerunner in the technology by winning the bid to host the ITER reactor in Cadarache. The ITER should start actual fusion around 2016.

Cooling

The majority of nuclear plants in France are located away from the shore and get cooling water from rivers. These plants employ cooling towers to have a lesser effect on the environment. Temperature of water carrying the waste heat is strictly limited by the French government, which has proved to be problematic during past heat waves.

These 4 get their cooling water directly from the ocean and can thus dump the waste heat directly back into the water, which is slightly more economical.

Fuel cycle

France is one of the few countries in the world with an active nuclear reprocessing program, with the COGEMA La Hague site. Enrichment work, some MOX fuel fabrication, and other activities take place at the Tricastin Nuclear Power Center. Enrichment is completely domestic and is powered by 2/3rds of the output of the nuclear plant at Tricastin. Reprocessing of fuel from other countries has been done for the United States and Japan, who have expressed the desire to develop a more closed fuel cycle similar to what France has. MOX fuel fabrication services have also been sold to other countries, notably to the USA for the Megatons to Megawatts Program, using Plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons.

While France does not mine Uranium for the front end of the fuel cycle domestically, French companies have various holdings in the Uranium market. Uranium for the French program totals 10,500 tonns per year coming from various locations such as:

Incidents

In July of 2008, 18,000 liters (4,755 Gallons) of Uranium solution containing natural uranium were accidentally released from Tricastin Nuclear Power Center. Due to cleaning and repair work the containment system for a uranium solution holding tank was not functional when the tank filled. The inflow exceeded the tank's capacity and 30 cubic meters of Uranium solution leaked with 18 cubic meters spilled to the ground. Testing found elevated uranium levels in the nearby Gaffière and Lauzon rivers. The liquid that escaped to the ground contained about 75kg of unenriched uranium which is toxic as a heavy metal while possessing only slight radioactivity. Estimates for the releases were initially higher, up to 360kg of natural uranium, but revised downward later.⁷

French authorities have banned the use of water from the Gaffière and Lauzon for drinking and watering of crops. Swimming, water sports and fishing were also banned. This incident has been classified as Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.⁸

Again in July 2008, approximately 100 employees of were exposed to radioactive particles that escaped from a pipe in a reactor that had been shut down.⁹

Public opinion

Historically, nuclear power was supported by the Gaullists, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party. A 2001 Ipsos poll found that 70% of the French population had a "good opinion" of nuclear energy in France and 63% want their country to remain a nuclear leader.¹⁰ According to reporter Jon Palfreman, the construction of the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant was welcomed by the local community in 1997:

A variety of reasons are cited for the popular support; a sense of national independence and reduced reliance on foreign oil, reduction of greenhouse gases, and a cultural interest in large technical projects (like the TGV and Concorde).¹¹¹²

At the time of the 1973 oil crisis, most of France's electricity came from foreign oil. France was strong in heavy engineering capabilities, but had few indigenous energy resources,² so the French government decided to invest heavily in nuclear power, and France installed 56 reactors over the next 15 years.¹¹ President of Electricite de France Laurent Striker said, "France chose nuclear because we have no oil, gas or coal resources, and recent events have only reinforced the wisdom of our choice".¹³

Areva NC claims that, due to their reliance on nuclear power, France's carbon emissions per kWh are less than 1/10 that of Germany and the UK, and 1/13 that of Denmark, which has no nuclear plants. Its emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide have been reduced by 70% over 20 years, even though the total power output has tripled in that time.¹⁴ In the same Ipsos poll, 88 percent of the population believe that reducing the greenhouse effect was a major reason to continue using nuclear power.¹⁰ French environmentalist Bruno Comby started the group Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy, and says, "If well-managed, nuclear energy is very clean, does not create polluting gases in the atmosphere, produces very little waste and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect".¹⁵

References

^ ^a ^b ^c EnerPub (2007-06-08). "France: Energy profile", Spero News. Retrieved on 25 August 2007.
^ ^a ^b World Nuclear Association (August 2007). "Nuclear Power in France". Retrieved on 2007-08-25. (alternate copy)
^ Second new reactor for France World Nuclear News, 3 July 2008 [1]
^ Notice on France on Global Security (English)
^ Sahara on the website of the French Minister of Defence (French)
^ Lomazzi, Marc (13 August 2007). "Nucléaire: les dessous de l'accord entre la France et la Libye" (in (French)), Le Parisien.
^ Angelique Chrisafis (10-7-2008). "River use banned after French uranium leak". The Guardian.
^ "France bans water consumption over nuclear leak" (2008-07-09). Retrieved on 2008-07-24.
^ "French workers contaminated by nuclear leak". New Zealand Herald (24-7-2008).
^ ^a ^b "Nuclear Notes from France Nº70". Embassy of France. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c Palfreman, Jon (1997). "Why the French Like Nuclear Energy", Frontline, Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved on 25 August 2007.
^ Rene de Preneuf. "Nuclear Power in France — Why does it Work?". Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
^ "France Presses Ahead with Nuclear Power". Eleanor Beardsley (Reporter). Morning Edition. National Public Radio. Transcript. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
^ "Nuclear energy and the green house effect". AREVA NC. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
^ "France's nuclear response to Kyoto", BBC (2005-02-18). Retrieved on 25 August 2007.

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