RECYCLING SPENT NUCLEAR FUELS FROM LWRS TO FAST REACTORS. Carole WAHIDE CEA Direction for Nuclear Energy FRANCE

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1 RECYCLING SPENT NUCLEAR FUELS FROM LWRS TO FAST REACTORS Carole WAHIDE CEA Direction for Nuclear Energy FRANCE 1

2 FRENCH ELECTRICITY NUCLEAR > 75 % OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION LOW-CARBON ENERGY MIX : # 4G CO2 PER KWH fossil nuclear hydro 2

3 The current nuclear power fleet in France EPR CHINON LE BLAYAIS GOLFECH GRAVELINES PALUEL FLAMANVILLE PENLY ST-LAURENT NOGENT / SEINE CIVAUX CHOOZ DAMPIERRE BELLEVILLE ST-ALBAN CRUAS TRICASTIN EPR CATTENOM BUGEY FESSENHEIM 900 MWe 63 GWe installed 58 PWR units Mature cycle facilities 19 sites ; 1 single technology A fleet : Young: average age = 23 years old Mature: > 1250 cumulated reactor-years 1300 MWe 1500 MWe Cycle facilities In 2017, 60 units and 66 GWe installed 3

4 FRENCH STRATEGY FOR FUEL CYCLE CEA Mines Natural Uranium Concentration Conversion Enrichment Final disposal Reprocessed Uranium Depleted Uranium Vitrified HLW Plutonium Storage compacted ILW wastes MA, FP MOX fuel Fabrication UOx fuel Fabrication Short lived L&ILW Spent fuel Reprocessing plant Interim storage Used Reactor MOX 4

5 THE PRINCIPLE OF THE FRENCH CLOSED FUEL CYCLE - approximative amounts/year - used MOX (UOX 1000t) #120t (REU 150t) (MOX 120t) Fuel fabrication LWRs RECYCLING used REU #150t used UOX 1000 t depleted uranium 7000t depleted RU 800t Uranium enrichment Uranium Conversion Plutonium #10t WASTE FPs and Mas 40 t Uranium (RU) #950 t natural U 8000 t Mining and milling 5

6 1 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 2005 ACT about ENERGY POLICY National self-sufficiency (security of supply) Large access to energy (competitive price) Environmental preservation (decrease CO2) Nuclear energy; a pillar R&D for future generation nuclear systems 2006 ACT about TRANSPARENCY & INFORMATION Independent Safety Authority High Committee fot transparency & information 2006 ACT about NUCLEAR MATERIALS & WASTE Recycle (decrease waste amounts) Geological repository for final waste 6

7 2 RECENT «POST-FUKUSHIMA» HIGHLIGHTS 2012, January : COUR DES COMPTES REPORT About nuclear energy costs : French electricity cost : 40% lower / other EU countries no «hidden costs» Uncertainties about decommissioning costs : a low incidence on global costs NPPs life-time extension (beyond 40 years) : the main point (if not: huge investments needed) 2012, February : ENERGIES 2050 REPORT Low energetic dependence, a priority Nuclear and renewable 7

8 CURRENT RECYCLING STRATEGY - THE RATIONALE SAVING URANIUM RESOURCES (10% OF FRENCH NUCLEAR ELECTRICITY FROM MOX FUELS) MASTERING THE GROWTH OF PLUTONIUM INVENTORY (PU FLUX ADEQUACY : PU FROM PROCESSING = PU REFUELED) SAFE & SECURE ULTIMATE WASTE WITHOUT PLUTONIUM THE PLUTONIUM AVAILABLE FOR FUTURE USE IS CONCENTRATED IN MOX SPENT FUELS AN ALREADY LARGE INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE, OPERATED UNDER INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS ( TONS REPROCESSED, 2000 TONS MOX) 8

9 Fission/Absorpti LONG TERM SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR SYSTEMS (1) RECYCLE (2) IN FAST REACTORS EFFICIENT BURNING OF PLUTONIUM, FULL USE OF URANIUM, EVEN DEPLETED URANIUM POTENTIALITIES FOR IMPROVING WASTE MANAGEMENT NO ENRICHMENT NEEDS 1.00 A progressive deployment? initially fueled with plutonium 0.60 coming from spent MOX breeding gain could be adjusted in the future (according to energy needs) able to recycle more -in a later step (transmutation of minor actinides ) U235 U238 Np237 Pu238 Pu239 Pu240 Pu241 Pu242 Robert N. Hill Argonne National Laboratory 233 rd ACS National Meeting Chicago, 2007 Am241 Am243 Cm244 PWR SFR 9

10 FOSSIL FUELS POTENTIAL RESERVES URANIUM 40 Gtoe GAS 150 Gtoe OIL 165 Gtoe COAL 400 Gtoe URANIUM 4000 Gtoe Uranium use in current reactors Uranium use in 4 th generation reactors IDENTIFIED CONVENTIONAL RESOURCES, GTOE (WEC, 2010) Oil 165 Gt, coal 826Gt, gas 180 Tm 3, uranium 3,3Mt 10

11 Radiotoxicité relative Radio-toxicity 4th GENERATION SYSTEMS - WASTE FINAL WASTE RADIO TOXICITY 100 Spent fuel direct disposal ,1 Current glasses U ore GenIV Years after Temps discharge (années) HIGHLY ACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY FOOTPRINT Piteşti, GenIV România - May 16-18, Current 2012 glasses Direct disposal 11

12 FAST REACTORS DEVELOPMENT - FRENCH STRATEGY SODIUM FAST REACTOR, THE REFERENCE OPTION : ASTRID, THE PROTOTYPE MATURITY, POSSIBLE FURTHER IMPROVMENTS (SAFETY, OPERABILITY, ECONOMICS) COMMERCIAL LEVEL 2040 DEVELOPPED WITH INDUSTRIAL AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS GAS-COOLED FAST REACTOR, A LONG-TERM OPTION: ALLEGRO, EXPERIMENTAL-SCALE PROJECT ATTRACTIVE POTENTIALITIES BUT HEAVY CHALLENGES (MATERIALS, FUEL, SAFETY) IN EUROPE? 12

13 ASTRID PROTOTYPE SCHEDULE Preliminary choice of options Decision to continue Decision to build Fuel loading ASTRID Conceptual design -1 Conceptual design -2 Basic design Detailed design & Construction Facilities 13

14 FROM LWRS RECYCLING TO SFRS RECYCLING Pu stored in MOX SF recycled in MOX SFR to start the SFRs deployement Scenarii can be flexible Both systems can coexist during a transition phase 14

15 EN RÉSUMÉ U-PU MULTIRECYCLE IN FAST REACTORS FOR SUSTAINABLE NUCLEAR SYSTEMS THE FRENCH ROUTE : ASTRID PROTOTYPE (FROM 2020), AND THE APPROPRIATE FUEL CYCLE COMMERCIAL DEPLOYMENT : FRANCE : FROM AROUND 2040, DIVERSE POSSIBLE OPTIONS OTHER COUNTRIES (RUSSIA, CHINA, INDIA) : PROBABLY SOONER AND FASTER 15