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Download the Newsletter Plutonium I nve st i gati n N°1 N O V E M B E R 1 9 9 7 Monthly - 20 FF uring 1996, 77% of the electricity produ- ced in France was generated by nuclear Dpower. Only one large utility, Electricité de France (EDF), produces most of the electri- cal energy generated in France (94% of the total French production). In 1996 EDF exported 69 TWh, mostly to Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. EDF is the largest electricity exporter in Europe. EDF currently operates 56 nuclear reactors of which a dozen are operated for export (!) Two more are planned to be put into service by the year 2000 (see map on page 6). France was one of the first countries to deve- lop a civil plutonium separation capacity, through reprocessing technology originally developed to produce plutonium for France's military programme. COGEMA operates today the largest commercial reprocessing plant in Plutonium Investigation the World at La Hague in Normandy. C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 2 The first industrial scale reprocessing plant - The FBR programme did not develop as UP1 - was built in 1958 at Marcoule. The UP1 foreseen. As a result it became clear that repro- plant - UP is a French abbreviation for pluto- cessing would lead to the stockpiling of sepa- nium factory - has mainly reprocessed fuel from rated plutonium as the amount of plutonium the first type of reactors developed in France, being produced exceeded FBR requirements. magnox reactors. In 1985, with the pretext of diminishing this The CEA began the construction of the La unwanted stockpile of plutonium, EDF, subjec- Hague reprocessing plants in 1960. The first ted to considerable pressure from the pluto- plant to be built at La Hague was the UP2 plant, nium lobbies of the CEA and COGEMA, set up which began reprocessing magnox fuel in a programme to use plutonium to produce MOX 1966. UP2 ceased to reprocess this type of fuel fuel (mixed uranium-plutonium oxides) for its in 1987, after a total of 4,894 tonnes1 had been PWRs (Pressurized Water Reactors). From reprocessed. A complementary facility to repro- then on, this programme became an alibi for cess spent fuel from light-water reactors the ongoing construction of plutonium plants at ( L W R )2 began operating at La Hague in 1976. La Hague. The argument to reduce plutonium The first French pressurised-water reactors, stockpiles through a MOX fuel strategy ultima- which were to progressively replace the exis- tely led to the opposite effect of increasing plu- ting magnox reactors, were built from 1970 tonium production and stockpiling. onwards. The first French pressurised-water At the end of the 1980s, when the stockpile reactor, Fessenheim 1, began operaton in of separated plutonium had reached about 3 1977. tonnes, EDF came to the conclusion that "in Another reprocessing plant, UP3, began order to avoid finding itself in a very difficult operating at La Hague in 1990. This plant, with situation in the year 2000", it would be neces- an 800 tonne per year capacity, was built for sary to recycle more plutonium [in MOX fuel], or foreign clients: German, Japanese, Belgian, to reprocess less fuel"3. It was impossible to Swiss and Dutch utilities; the building and first "recycle" more plutonium in MOX fuel because decade operation of the plant was - in principle of an insufficient MOX fuel production capacity; - completely prefinanced by these utilities on a the reprocessing throughput was not reduced cost-plus-fee basis. either. Plutonium stockpiles continued to The La Hague plants reprocess primarily increase; the "very difficult situation" foreseen foreign spent fuel. At the end of 1990, a total of for the year 2000 is fast becoming a reality. 2,881 tonnes of spent LWR fuel had been Officially, French government policy is to reprocessed at La Hague, of which, 731 tonnes obtain throughput equality between the pluto- (only 25%) were from EDF. Nowadays, the nium produced in reprocessing and the pluto- French share of reprocessed spent fuel is lar- nium used for MOX production. According to ger. At the end of 1996, 10,087 tonnes of LWR the Ministry of Industry, in order to avoid the spent fuel had been reprocessed, of which, accumulation of stocks of separated plutonium, almost 6,100 tonnes (60%) was of foreign EDF "only reprocesses spent fuel if use can be origin. made of the plutonium produced"4 . In practice, this is not so. Sixteen PWRs are Plutonium throughputs and plutonium currently licensed to use MOX fuel, whereas stockpiles only fourteen are actually using MOX at the When the French nuclear programme was moment. Plutonium stockpiles are therefore still boosted in 1974, EDF planned to reprocess increasing very rapidly (see plutonium invento- LWR spent fuel and to use the extracted pluto- ry, page 7). EDF has requested a license to use nium for the fabrication of fuel for fast-breeder MOX in another four reactors at Chinon. It is reactors (FBRs). Although, at the time, only clear that time is running out; the present limited experience was available on either context does not favour either comprehensive spent LWR fuel reprocessing or FBR operation, analysis or a democratic decision making COGEMA committed itself to extensive pro- p r o c e s s . grammes for both the UP2 and UP3 plants. At the same time a French led consortium, Fabrication of MOX Fuel NERSA, committed itself to build the FBR reac- France has two operating MOX fabrication tor, Superphénix, in spite of considerable public plants. The first one is the Cadarache plant, opposition to the project. operated by the CEA. It has produced MOX Plutonium Investigation 2 NOVEMBER 1997 fuel for FBRs as well as LWRs. The Cadarache nal evaluation of the economic and ecological plant produced 32 tonnes of MOX fuel for consequences of different options for the LWRs in 1995, and the CEA is aiming at an management of spent fuel and radioactive annual production of 35 tonnes. The waste. The first version of the report did not Cadarache plant was recently qualified to pro- convince the staff of the new Minister of the duce MOX fuel for German PWRs, and will be Environment; a further report has been reques- operated during the coming years almost exclu- ted from the authors; this new report should be sively for German customers. Logically, the for- available over the next few months. mer director of the Hanau MOX plant in Germany was appointed director of the MOX and Fissile Material Management Cadarache plant. Neither the German popula- Following denuclearisation treaties between tion, nor the Government of the Land of Hesse, the USA and the Russian Federation, large wanted such a plant. The German nuclear quantities of fissile material will have to be dis- industry chose to export the corresponding risk posed of, so as to reduce or eliminate nuclear to France. proliferation risks. Different solutions have The other plant is the Melox plant at been proposed for weapons grade plutonium, Marcoule, which was first operated in 1994. of which vitrification together with high-level The Melox plant is licensed to produce 100 radioactive waste and production of MOX fuel tonnes of MOX fuel for LWRs. In fact, the Melox for standard reactors. Both solutions are being plant was designed to produce MOX fuel only studied in the USA. France is participating in for PWRs, since EDF only operates this type of projects for the construction of a plant for the LWR. At the beginning of 1996 Melox reques- conversion of weapons grade plutonium (from ted authorisation from the safety authorities to a metallic alloy to oxide) and for a demonstra- add a workshop to the plant in order to produ- tion MOX fuel fabrication plant located in the ce MOX fuel for BWRs to satisfy the MOX fuel Russian Federation. needs of foreign utilities. Melox is also planning to request another license to double its produc- C o n c l u s i o n tion capacity. Ms. Dominique Voynet, Minister A critical situation has been reached in of the Environment, declared that she is oppo- France in the management of plutonium. On sed to any enlargement of the plant for export: the one hand, stockpiles of separated pluto- "I will not sign any Bill for the extension of the nium are increasing. On the other hand, the plant to produce more and export"5. At the end national utility, EDF, has been endeavouring to of 1996, the Melox plant had produced only 80 burn more and more plutonium in order to tonnes of MOX fuel. During the first six months decrease plutonium stockpiles; the utility has of 1997, production however reached 45 however been confronted with safety and secu- tonnes. rity requirements which jeopardize cost effi- ciency. The fact that EDF has attributed a zero Consequences of the use of MOX fuel in monetary value to its plutonium stocks speaks light water reactors for itself. Plutonium has for a long time been a Currently, French nuclear safety authorities source of concern rather than a source of ener- stipulate that no more than one third of the gy. There seems to be no logic in spending a nuclear fuel used in LWRs should be MOX and lot of money to produce plutonium while gene- that the plutonium contents of this fuel should rating very large quantities of radioactive not exceed more than about 7.5% and impose effluents (the La Hague plants discharge 8,000 more stringent operating characteristics for times more radioactivity to the environment MOX fuel than for uranium fuel.
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