In France, the first commercial reprocessing plant was for gas-cooled, graphite moderated fuel; it opened at Marcoule in 1958 (400 MT/yr). An equivalent plant at La Hague began operation in 1967 (400 t/year). The first plant for LWR oxide

fuel (UP2) started up at La Hague in 1976 (800 t/year) and a second, also at La Hague (UP3), in 1990 (800 t/year) (Fig. 16.26).

France4 chose the closed fuel cycle at the very beginning of its nuclear program, involving reprocessing used fuel so as to recover uranium and plutonium for reuse and to reduce the volume of high-level waste for disposal. Recycling allows 30% more energy to be extracted from the original uranium and leads to a great reduction in the amount of waste to be disposed of. Overall the cost of closed fuel cycle is assessed as comparable with that for direct disposal of used fuel, and conserves a resource, which may become more valuable in the future. Back-end services are carried out by AREVA NC. Used fuel storage in pools at reactor sites is relatively brief. Late in 2011, 70% of EdF’s used fuel was in used fuel pools, mostly at La Hague, 19% was in dry casks and 11% had been reprocessed.

Used fuel from the French reactors and from other countries is sent to AREVA NC’s La Hague plant in Normandy for reprocessing. This has the capacity to reprocess up to 1700 tonnes per year of used fuel in the UP2 and UP3 facilities. The treatment extracts 99.9% of the plutonium and uranium for recycling, leaving 3% of the used fuel material as high-level waste, which is vitrified and stored there for later disposal. Typical input today is 3.7% enriched used fuel from PWR and BWR reactors with burn-up to 45 GWd/t, after cooling for four years. In 2009

AREVA reprocessed 929 tonnes, most from EdF, but 79 t from SOGIN in Italy. By 2015 it aims for throughput of 1500 t/yr.

EdF has been sending some 850 tonnes for reprocessing out of about 1200 tonnes of used fuel discharged per year, though from 2010 it will send 1050 t. The rest is kept for later reprocessing to provide the plutonium required for the start-up of Generation IV reactors. Reprocessing is undertaken a few years after discharge, following some cooling. Some 8.5 tonnes of plutonium and 810 tonnes of reprocessed uranium (RepU) have been recovered each year from the 850 tonnes treated each year to 2009. The plutonium is immediately shipped to the 195 t/yr Melox plant near Marcoule for prompt fabrication into about 100 tonnes of mixed — oxide (MOX) fuel, which is used in 20 of EdF’s 900 MWe reactors. Four more are being licensed to use MOX fuel.

Used MOX fuel and used RepU fuel is stored pending reprocessing and use of the plutonium in Generation IV fast reactors. These discharges have amounted to about 140 tonnes per year, but rise to 200 tonnes from 2010. Used MOX fuel is not reprocessed at present.

EdF’s recycled uranium (RepU) is converted in Comurhex plants at Pierrelatte, either to U3 O8 for interim storage, or to UF, for re-enrichment in centrifuge facilities there or at Seversk in Russia. About 500 tU per year of French RepU as UF, is sent to JSC Siberian Chemical Combine at Seversk for re-enrichment. The enriched RepU UF, from Seversk is then turned into UO, fuel in AREVA NP’s FBFC Romans plant (capacity 150 t/yr). EdF has used it in the Cruas 900 MWe power reactors since the mid-1980s. The main RepU inventory constitutes a strategic resource, and EdF intends to increase its utilization significantly. The enrichment tails remain at Seversk, as the property of the enricher.

Considering both plutonium and uranium, EdF estimates that about 20% of its electricity is produced from recycled materials. AREVA’s estimate is 17%, from both MOX and RepU.

AREVA has the capacity to produce and market 150 t/year of MOX fuel at its Melox plant for French and foreign customers (though it is licensed for 195 t/yr). In Europe 35 reactors have been loaded with MOX fuel. Contracts for MOX fuel supply were signed in 2006 with Japanese utilities. All these fuel cycle facilities comprise a significant export industry and have been France’s major export to Japan. At the end of 2008 AREVA was reported to have about 30 t/yr in export contracts for MOX fuel, with demand very strong. However, EdF has priority.

To the end of 2009 about 27 000 tonnes of LWR fuel from France and other countries had been reprocessed at La Hague. In addition about 5000 tonnes of gas-cooled reactor natural uranium fuel was earlier reprocessed there and over 18 000 tonnes at the UP1 plant for such fuel at Marcoule, which closed in 1997.

At the end of 2008 AREVA and EdF announced a renewed agreement to reprocess and recycle EdF’s used fuel to 2040, thereby securing the future of both La Hague and Melox plants. The agreement supports AREVA’s aim to have La Hague reprocessing operating at 1500 t/yr by 2015, instead of two thirds of that in

2008. It also means that EdF will increase the amount of used fuel sent for reprocessing to 1050 t/yr from 2010, and so Melox will produce 120 t/yr MOX fuel for EdF then, up from 100 tonnes in 2009. It also means that EdF will recycle used MOX fuel.

Under current legislation, EdF is required to have made provision for its decommissioning and final waste management liabilities by 2011, but under a new bill that deadline would be deferred until 2016. At the end of 2009, EdF was reported to have EUR 11.4 billion in its dedicated back-end fund, compared with an estimated liability of EUR 16.9 billion.

France’s back-end strategy and industrial developments are to evolve progressively in line with future needs and technological developments. The existing plants at La Hague (commissioned around 1990) have been designed to operate for at least forty years, so with operational and technical improvements taking place on a continual basis they are expected to be operating until around 2040. This will be when Generation IV plants (reactors and advanced treatment facilities) should come on line. In this respect, three main R&D areas for the next decade include:

The COEX process based on co-extraction and co-precipitation of uranium and plutonium together as well as a pure uranium stream (avoiding any separation of plutonium). This is designed for Generation III recycling plants and is close to near-term industrial deployment.

Selective separation of long-lived radionuclides (with a focus on Am and Cm separation) from short-lived fission products based on the optimization of DIAMEX-SANEX processes for their recycling in Generation IV fast neutron reactors with uranium as blanket fuel. This option can also be implemented with a combination of COEX and DIAMEX-SANEX processes.

Group extraction of actinides (GANEX process) as a long-term R&D goal for a homogeneous recycling of actinides (i. e. U-Pu plus minor actinides together) in Generation IV fast neutron reactors as driver fuel.

All three processes are to be assessed as they develop, and one or more will be selected for industrial-scale development with the construction of pilot plants. In the longer term the goal is to have integral recycling of uranium, plutonium and minor actinides. In practical terms, a technology — hopefully GANEX or similar — will need to be validated for industrial deployment of Gen IV fast reactors about 2040, at which stage the present La Hague plant will be due for replacement.