Accessed on line 23 December World Nuclear Association Annual Symposium, By Marie Maitre and Abdoulaye Massalatchi: Mon 14 January China's Relations with Niger". Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Bloomberg News. Rob Foulkes and Daniel Litvin: Jade Heilmann, Voice of America , 14 January Uranium - Blessing Or Curse? Archived from the original on 13 February Workers with cancer are deliberately given a false diagnosis at the company hospital.
The Guardian , London, Nuclear power in France. List of nuclear reactors in France. Retrieved from " https: Areva Mining companies of France Nuclear power companies of France. Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from October Articles with permanently dead external links Articles with French-language external links Webarchive template archiveis links CS1 French-language sources fr Use dmy dates from October It is Europe's largest importer of electricity, most coming ultimately from France.
The UK has also become a major customer for French electricity. They were similar to the British Magnox units but developed independently. EdF then chose pressurised water reactor PWR types, supported by new enrichment capacity and fully indigenous manufacturing. EdF plans for some BWR units did not proceed. This is a higher degree of standardisation than anywhere else in the world.
There have been two fast reactors — Phenix which ran for over 30 years, and Super Phenix, which was commissioned but then closed for political reasons. Differences in net power among almost identical reactors is usually due to differences in cold sources for cooling.
This was confirmed in as the new standard design for France and it received French design approval in There have been two significant fast breeder reactors in France. It was shut down for modification , returned at MWe for six years, and ceased power generation in March , though it continued in test operation and to maintain research programs by CEA until October A second unit was Super-Phenix of MWe, which started up in but was closed down for political reasons at the end of and is now being decommissioned. The operation of Phenix is fundamental to France's research on waste disposal, particularly transmutation of actinides.
All but four of EdF's nuclear power plants 14 reactors are inland, and require fresh water for cooling. Eleven of the 15 inland plants 32 reactors have cooling towers, using evaporative cooling, the others use simply river or lake water directly. With regulatory constraints on the temperature increase in receiving waters, this means that in very hot summers generation output may be limited.
Its report, released in conjunction with ASN, proposed a new set of 'hard core' safety requirements to ensure the protection of vital safety-critical structures and equipment to ensure that vital functions can be maintained in the face of events beyond the design basis of the plant, such as earthquakes, fires, or the prolonged loss of power or emergency cooling. The MWe reactors all had their lifetimes extended by ten years in , after their second yearly review.
Most started up late s to early s, and they are reviewed together in a process that takes four months at each unit. A review of the MWe class followed and in October the regulatory authority cleared all 20 units for an extra ten years' operation conditional upon minor modifications at their year outages over The third year inspections of the MWe series began in and run to The 3rd ten-year inspections of the MWe series run from to Each individual unit will now be subject to inspection during their year outage, starting with Tricastin 1.
In December ASN extended its licence by ten years, to , and in February it did the same for unit 2, to , conditional upon post-Fukushima safety upgrades being brought forward. In July ASN approved a ten-year licence extension for Fessenheim 1, the oldest operating reactor start-up , subject to making its 1.
EdF considered the cost-benefit situation following the outcome of EU stress tests and completed the work in mid Much the same work on unit 2 will follow, and EdF committed to this in mid Bugey 2 was approved by ASN for ten-year life extension in July , and Bugey 4 the same in July , subject to similar conditions for minor upgrading. With Tricastin 1, this brings to five the total approved for year operating life. In July EdF said that it was assessing the prospect of year lifetimes for all its existing reactors. EdF has replaced the steam generators at 22 of its MWe units and is currently replacing those at two units per year, and plans to increase this to three units in In the government announced that both Fessenheim reactors should close by , for political reasons and regardless of safety evaluations.
This would require compensation payments to minority owners: Germany's EnBW has The report concluded, "Whatever the long-term energy policy followed, it would make sense, fiscally and economically, to retain the benefit of the 'surplus nuclear' by not prematurely closing second generation plants currently in operation. In August the government agreed to pay EdF compensation for the closure, in two instalments, the precise amounts depending on wholesale electricity prices through to In January EdF agreed to the compensation protocol which would be signed when EdF formally requests shutdown.
This would include retraining of staff, decommissioning the plant, the basic nuclear facility tax and post-operational costs. Further variable payments would be made to reflect EDF's operating income shortfall up to due to the closure. In April the EdF board decided to give notice of Fessenheim shutdown within six moths prior to full commissioning of Flamanville 3.
However, that notice would only be given if "the closure of the Fessenheim power plant is necessary in order to comply with the legal ceiling of The Council of State later ruled the decree had not been issued at EDF's request, as required by law. It pointed out that there are only two parts of a nuclear reactor that cannot be replaced, the reactor pressure vessel and the reactor containment building.
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The rest of the components have a normal lifespan of years and require renovation or replacement. ASN said it would evaluate life extensions on the basis of Generation III criteria regardless of when particular reactors were built. In March the ASN said that there were no generic elements to prevent the twenty MWe units operating safely to 40 years. It considers the actions planned or already taken by EDF to assess the condition of the reactors and control ageing issues up to their fourth inspection are adequate.
However, it said these assessments do not take into account any evaluations of the fitness of the units' reactor pressure vessels for operation beyond 30 years, nor the results of tests carried out during the reactors' third ten-yearly inspections, from April to In mid the board of EdF decided in principle to build the first demonstration unit of an expected series of Areva EPRs. The decision was seen as "an essential step in renewing EDF's nuclear generation mix". EDF then submitted a construction licence application.
However, early in EdF backed away from this and said it would build the plant on its own and take all of the output. Nevertheless, in November an agreement was signed confirming the The agreement also gave EdF an option to participate in construction and operation of future ENEL nuclear power plants in Italy or elsewhere in Europe and the Mediterranean. ENEL said it would pursue its commercial business in France by other means. Site works at Flamanville on the Normandy coast were complete and the first concrete was poured in December , with construction to take 54 months and commercial operation expected in May In January EdF ordered the nuclear steam supply system from Areva.
The turbine-generator section was ordered in from Alstom — a MWe Arabelle unit. In April tests showed that parts of the RPV steel from Creusot Forge had a high carbon content and one-third lower than specified toughness, and the head of ASN said that it would make an assessment of the slight carbon heterogeneity.
ASN confirmed this order in October As well as the RPV, forging of steam generator shells was at Areva's Creusot Forge factory from , with installation in In July EdF again revised the completion time to due to re-evaluation of civil engineering works and to take into account interruptions during the first half of the year. As the reactor pressure vessel was installed in January Areva confirmed that first power was expected in , four years behind the original schedule. It would require 40 of these to reach present capacity. EdF's development strategy had selected the nuclear replacement option on the basis of nuclear's "economic performance, for the stability of its costs and out of respect for environmental constraints.
This design is expected to be completed by , for construction by Like Flamanville, it has two MWe units now operating, and room for two more. A public debate on the project concluded in , but nuclear safety authority ASN did not accept EdF's application to build the unit, sending it back for further work before the application is submitted to a local public inquiry.
However, EdF then halted plans for the Penly 3 unit and said that it did not intend to build more nuclear capacity in France for operation before A third new reactor, with majority GdF Suez ownership and operated by it, was proposed to follow — in line with the company's announced intentions. This sparked union opposition due to the private ownership. It would have been a reference plant for the Areva-Mitsubishi design, providing a base for export sales. France has been pursuing three Gen IV technologies: While Areva has been working on the last two types, the main interest in the very high temperature reactors has been in the USA, as well as South Africa and China.
CEA interest in the fast reactors is on the basis that they will produce less waste and will better exploit uranium resources, including the , tonnes of depleted uranium and some reprocessed uranium stockpiled in France. If the CEA embarks on the sodium-cooled design, there is plenty of experience to draw on — Phenix and Superphenix — and they could go straight to a demonstration plant — the main innovations would be dispensing with the breeding blanket around the core and substituting gas for water as the intermediate coolant.
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A gas-cooled fast reactor would be entirely new and would require a small prototype as first step — the form of its fuel would need to be unique. In December the government's Atomic Energy Committee decided to proceed with a Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor prototype whose design features are to be decided by and the start up aimed for A new generation of sodium-cooled fast reactor with innovations intended to improve the competitiveness and the safety of this reactor type is the reference approach for this prototype.
A gas-cooled fast reactor design is to be developed in parallel as an alternative option. The prototype will also have the mission of demonstrating advanced recycling modes intended to improve the ultimate high-level and long-lived waste to be disposed of. The objective is to have one type of competitive fast reactor technology ready for industrial deployment in France and for export after The project will be led by the CEA.
Normally base-load generating plants, with high capital cost and low operating cost, are run continuously, since this is the most economic mode. But also it is technically the simplest way, since nuclear and coal-fired plants cannot readily alter power output, compared with gas or hydro plants. The high reliance on nuclear power in France thus poses some technical challenges, since the reactors collectively need to be used in load-following mode. Since electricity cannot be stored, generation output must exactly equal to consumption at all times.
Any change in demand or generation of electricity at a given point on the transmission network has an instant impact on the entire system. RTE , a subsidiary of EdF, is responsible for operating, maintaining and developing the French electricity transmission network.
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France has the biggest grid network in Europe, made up of some , km of high and extra high voltage lines, and 44 cross-border lines, including a DC link to UK. Electricity is transmitted regionally at and kilovolts. Frequency and voltage are controlled from the national control centre, but dispatching of capacity is done regionally. Due to its central geographical position, RTE is a crucial entity in the European electricity market and a critical operator in maintaining its reliability. All France's nuclear capacity is from PWR units. There are two ways of varying the power output from a PWR: Using normal control rods to reduce power means that there is a portion of the core where neutrons are being absorbed rather than creating fission, and if this is maintained it creates an imbalance in the fuel, with the lower part of the fuel assemblies being more reactive that the upper parts.
Adding boron to the water diminishes the reactivity uniformly, but to reverse the effect the water has to be treated to remove the boron, which is slow and costly, and it creates a radioactive waste. So to minimise these impacts since the s EdF has used in each PWR reactor some less absorptive 'grey' control rods which weigh less from a neutronic point of view than ordinary control rods and they allow sustained variation in power output. This means that RTE can depend on flexible load following from the nuclear fleet to contribute to regulation in these three respects:.
PWR plants are very flexible at the beginning of their cycle, with fresh fuel and high reserve reactivity. So at the very end of the cycle, they are run at steady power output and do not regulate or load-follow until the next refueling outage. RTE has continuous oversight of all French plants and determines which plants adjust output in relation to the three considerations above, and by how much.
RTE's real-time picture of the whole French system operating in response to load and against predicted demand shows the total of all inputs. This includes the hydro contribution at peak times, but it is apparent that in a coordinated system the nuclear fleet is capable of a degree of load following, even though the capability of individual units to follow load may be limited.
Plants being built today, eg according to European Utilities' Requirements EUR , have load-following capacity fully built in. France uses some 12, tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate 10, tonnes of U per year for its electricity generation. Areva perceives the front end of the French fuel cycle as strategic, and invests accordingly. Beyond this, it is self-sufficient and has conversion, enrichment, uranium fuel fabrication and MOX fuel fabrication plants operational together with reprocessing and a waste management program.
Most fuel cycle activities are carried out by Areva. In May Areva NC announced plans for a new conversion project — Comurhex II — expanding and modernising the facilities at Malvesi and Pierrelatte near Tricastin to strengthen its global position in the front end of the fuel cycle. In January EdF awarded a long-term conversion contract to Areva.
At the start of Comurhex I had an inventory of three years' worth of sales, from which customers would be supplied between the closure of Comhurhex I and the opening of Comurhex II. In September , Orano stated that Comurhex II would commence industrial production in , and ramp up to full capacity over several years.
From it is expected that the facility will have a capacity of tonnes per year and will have an annual output tonnes. Construction is due to be completed in , at which point the facility will reach its full capacity of 15, tonnes per year. Orano stated in September that EDF is committed to buy about one-third of the total output, with the balance mainly sold under long-term contracts to about 70 utilities in the USA, China, South Korea and several European countries. Areva in the UK provides services for nuclear reactor design and construction, as well as related services.
The Hinkley plant will be the first nuclear power plant built in Britain since the Sizewell B in Suffolk, which started electricity production in The Hinkley Point C plant is projected to cut CO2 emissions in the UK by 9 million tons a year and create 25, construction jobs and operations jobs. Niger is the world's fourth largest uranium producer. Up until , Areva was the only industrial company able to extract uranium in the country, but under a policy shift by then President Mamadou Tandja , the field was opened to competition and Sino-U , a Chinese nuclear energy company, was granted uranium concessions.
The population of Niger was exposed to a serious famine in In November , Greenpeace released a report indicating that two villages near AREVA's mining operations in Niger had dangerously high levels of radiation. The Group's uranium mining project in Namibia at Trekkopje was put on hold in due to a decrease in uranium prices following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Areva is currently running a care and maintenance program at the site so that it can be reopened in the future. At the end of , Areva directly employed about 50 people in Namibia, as well as about 50 suppliers and contractors in the country. Areva Resources Namibia finished a 20 million cubic meter desalination plant in the semi-arid Erongo region of the country in In June , AREVA announced plans to sign a year deal with state-run utility Namibia Water Corp to maintain water supplies essential to uranium mines in the country.
Areva has had a presence in Gabon since the s, although there is currently no uranium mining in the country. Today, Areva operates in the country under the subsidiary Areva Gabon, established in Areva Gabon is focused on exploring new mining possibilities at sites around the country. Areva Resources Canada Inc. Areva operates as Areva Inc. In February , the U. In December , as part of an Areva investment freeze, the company announced a potential delay in construction until a capital solution was secured for the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility.
In November , Areva and South Korea electric utility KEPCO signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the renewable energy sector, [] with a particular focus on biomass in Southeast Asia. Lauvergeon said the deal enables allows Areva to "consolidate its presence in one of the most dynamic markets in the world with enormous potential. The contract also called on Areva to provide uranium to fuel the reactors through Some intellectual property rights are retained by Areva, which limits CPR export potential for China.
In December , Areva and China General Nuclear Power CGN agreed to a partnership in renewable energy, with a focus on offshore wind, biomass, concentrated solar power, and energy storage. In June , Areva reached an agreement with Kazatomprom. The collaboration lead to the creation of a joint-venture Katco which provides uranium's tones per year.
Due to that contract Kazakhstan became one of the three most important partnerships for the group. Areva is not accused of any cartel involvement other than through the acquisition of an Alstom unit in January The parent entities of the Areva group share a joint liability with that subsidiary for the period after its acquisition. It [Areva] and Alstom have joint liability for On 24 June , an armed group assaulted a uranium plant operated by Areva at Bakouma in the southeast of the Central African Republic.
A statement by the military described that "a violent clash on Sunday afternoon pitted" Central African troops against "an unidentified group of armed men attempting to launch an assault on the site of mining company Areva". According to the report the army successfully repelled the attack, but "the enemy did some material damage and pulled back while taking a sizeable quantity mainly of food with them.
Central African military sources believe that the attack was organized by members of the Chadian rebel group Popular Front for Recovery FPR led by 'General' Baba Ladde, which has been active in the region since The army says it's conducting further operations to neutralize the remaining armed rebels in the region of Bakouma.
In January , Al Jazeera produced Orphans of the Sahara , three-part series on the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert, in which claims were brought to light that Areva mining and consequent radiations are causing diseases and deaths among their people. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For the genus of moth, see Areva moth.
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