Introduction

France has few primary energy sources of its own. However, it is the tenth-largest consumer of oil in the world. Nuclear power has replaced most of France’s coal-fired power plants. France has the second-largest electricity sector in the EU, after Germany. Nuclear energy accounts for around 80% of total domestic electricity production. France’s reliance on nuclear power allows it to produce electricity at lower cost than other European countries. France exports most of its electricity production to Italy, Germany and Belgium. The United Kingdom has also become a major customer.

France is the world’s largest nuclear power generator on a per capita basis and ranks second in total installed nuclear capacity, after the United States. The EDF board approved in May 2006 building a European pressurised reactor (EPR) at a site near Flamanville, in Normandy and in April 2007 a governmental decree gave the final authorisation. The unit is expected to be completed by 2016. EDF also announced that it plans to replace its existing nuclear fleet by EPRs. The French Presidency announced on 30 January 2009 the construction of a second EPR at Penly, on the Channel coast near Dieppe. A new law on radioactive waste management was adopted in June 2006, following a public debate on the subject of nuclear waste.

The international consortium of ITER announced at the end of June 2005 that France would be the site of the world's first large-scale, sustainable nuclear fusion reactor (at Cadarache, south east France). This is a project that many scientists see as crucial to solving the world's future energy needs. Public support for nuclear power is quite strong in France.

Country Profile

Executive Summary

France has few primary energy sources of its own. However, it is the tenth-largest consumer of oil in the world. Nuclear power has replaced most of France’s coal-fired power plants. France has the second-largest electricity sector in the EU, after Germany. Nuclear energy accounts for around 80% of total domestic electricity production. France’s reliance on nuclear power allows it to produce electricity at lower cost than other European countries. France exports most of its electricity production to Italy, Germany and Belgium. The United Kingdom has also become a major customer.

France is the world’s largest nuclear power generator on a per capita basis and ranks second in total installed nuclear capacity, after the United States. The EDF board approved in May 2006 building a European pressurised reactor (EPR) at a site near Flamanville, in Normandy and in April 2007 a governmental decree gave the final authorisation. The unit is expected to be completed by 2016. EDF also announced that it plans to replace its existing nuclear fleet by EPRs. The French Presidency announced on 30 January 2009 the construction of a second EPR at Penly, on the Channel coast near Dieppe. A new law on radioactive waste management was adopted in June 2006, following a public debate on the subject of nuclear waste.

The international consortium of ITER announced at the end of June 2005 that France would be the site of the world's first large-scale, sustainable nuclear fusion reactor (at Cadarache, south east France). This is a project that many scientists see as crucial to solving the world's future energy needs. Public support for nuclear power is quite strong in France.

Security of supply

France has few primary energy sources of its own. In 2005, its proven oil reserves totalled 146 million barrels. France is the tenth-largest consumer of oil in the world. To meet this demand, France has to import crude oil from Norway, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom. France has also small reserves of natural gas and has to import natural gas from Norway, Russia and Algeria. Natural gas is, however, a small component of France’s energy mix (around 15%). France has relatively small coal reserves, totalling 40 million short tonnes. Coal is an increasingly smaller contributor to France’s overall energy supply (around 5%) than it used to be. Nuclear power has replaced most of France’s coal-fired power plants. France has the second-largest electricity sector in the EU, behind Germany.

Nuclear energy accounts for around 80% of total electricity production, hydroelectricity accounts for around 11%, and conventional thermal energy for around 9%. Electricité de France (EDF), of which the French government has the majority ownership, has a monopoly on domestic electricity generation and distribution. EDF also owns the French national electricity grid. Gestionnaire du réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), a company nominally independent but in reality controlled by EDF, operates the grid.

France’s electricity grid is part of the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE). France is the largest net exporter of electricity in the EU. Its reliance on nuclear power allows it to produce electricity at lower cost than other European countries. France exports most of its electricity to Italy, Germany and Belgium. The UK has also become a major customer.

Nuclear Policy

France is the world’s largest nuclear power generator on a per capita basis and ranks second in total installed nuclear capacity, behind the United States. In the 1970’s, the French government began promoting nuclear power to reduce its reliance on energy imports. In 2002, France’s 58 nuclear reactors generated around 80% of the country’s electricity. This represents a dramatic turnaround from 1973, when fossil fuels accounted for an estimated 65% of France’s gross power output. French nuclear power is efficient and cheap. Consequently, French electricity tariffs are the cheapest in Europe. In September 2001, the French government restructured its nuclear sector into a single, state-owned holding company, called Areva. France has plans to further expand its nuclear power industry. A report released by the French government in November 20003 called for a significant expansion of the nuclear industry, including the construction of a third generation of nuclear reactors and the upgrading of existing plants.

France has set up a partnership with Germany to develop the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR). The EPR is a third-generation reactor, designed to be even safer, and more efficient. Each EPR reactor should produce around 1600 megawatts (MW) of electricity, compared with the 900 MW that most second-generation reactors currently generate. EDF announced in November 2004 that it would build an EPR, at a site near Flamanville. It plans to complete the unit by 2016. EDF also announced that it plans to replace its existing nuclear fleet by EPRs. The EDF board approved the Flamanville project in May 2006 and in April 2007 a governmental decree gave the final authorisation. The French Presidency announced on 30 January 2009 the construction of a second EPR at Penly, on the Channel coast near Dieppe. The reactor will be connected to the grid in 2017. Penly has already two operating 1 300-MW PWRs. The new EPR, which will be built by EDF in partnership with GDF Suez, will be the second unit of its kind in France, after Flamanville, and the third in Europe after Olkiluoto, Finland.

The international consortium of ITER announced at the end of June 2005 that France would be the site of the world's first large-scale, sustainable nuclear fusion reactor in Cadarache, a project that many Scientists see as crucial to solving the world's future energy needs. A new Energy Act was passed in July 2005, covering three main elements: demand management, development of renewables, and nuclear power.

Eleven experimental power reactors are being decommissioned in France. Eight of them are first-generation gas-cooled, graphite-moderated types, of which six are very similar to the UK Magnox type. Plans for dismantling these reactors (which have been shut down since 1990 or even earlier) are at an advanced stage. However, France is waiting to identify sites for disposing of the intermediate-level wastes and the alpha-contaminated graphite.
The other three reactors include the 1200 MWe Super Phenix fast reactor, the 1966 prototype 305 MWe PWR, and an experimental GCHWR. Plans and financing of the final decommissioning of the UP1 reprocessing plant at Marcoule were finalised in 2004, with the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) taking charge. The total cost is expected to be around EUR 5.6 billion. The plant was closed in 1997, after 39 years of operation, Its production was primarily for military purposes but it also took the spent fuel from EDF's early gas-cooled power reactors. It was operated under a partnership – Codem - with the CEA and EDF each owning a 45% share and Cogema owning the remaining 10%. EDF and Areva (for Cogema) will now pay CEA EUR 1.5 billion and no longer have liability. At the end of 2004, EDF allocated EUR 9.9 billion for decommissioning.

Safety and Waste Management

The Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité de Surete Nucléaire - ASN) is the regulatory authority responsible for nuclear safety and radiological protection in France. It reports to the Minister of the Environment Industry & Health. The General Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection (DGSNR) was set up in 2002 by merging the Directorate for Nuclear Installation Safety (DSIN) with the Office for Protection against Ionising Radiation (OPRI). This was done to integrate the regulatory functions and help to "draft and implement government policy." Research is being carried out by the ISRN - the Institute for Radiological Protection & Nuclear Safety, which was also set up in 2002 from two existing organisations. ISRN is the main technical support body for ASN and also advises DGSNR.

The Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique - CEA) was set up in 1945 and is a public R&D company responsible for all aspects of nuclear R&D. The first eight power reactors were gas-cooled, which were promoted by the Atomic Energy Authority (CEA). However, EDF later chose pressurised water reactor (PWR) types, supported by increased enrichment capacity.

Apart from one experimental fast breeder reactor, all French units are now PWRs. They are of three standard types designed by Areva NP (the first two derived from US Westinghouse models): 900 MWe (34), 1300 MWe (20) and 1450 MWe N4 type (4). This level of standardisation is unmatched anywhere else in the world. The 900 MWe reactors all had their lifetimes extended by ten years in 2002, after the second 10-yearly review had been carried out. The majority started operating in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the review process takes about four months for each unit. A review of the 1300 MWe class followed. In 2003, EDF used its acquired operating experience to uprate its four Chooz and Civaux N4 reactors from 1455 to 1500 MWe.
ANDRA is the French organisation in charge of radioactive waste management. From 1969 to 1994, the Manche Disposal Facility was the country’s first short-lived, low and medium-level radioactive waste disposal site. The site is now in the surveillance phase. In 1992, the Centre de l’Aube Disposal Facility began accepting low and intermediate-level radioactive waste from power plants, research establishments, industrial plants, and medicinal operations. Centre de l’Aube is currently France’s site for low-level radioactive waste disposal. Spent nuclear fuel is kept for one year on site, in specially constructed storage pools. Following storage, spent nuclear fuel is transported to the La Hague and Marcoule reprocessing plants and stored in pools for two to three years. France reprocesses its own spent nuclear fuel. Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan also send, or have sent in the past, spent nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing. High-level reprocessed waste is vitrified (solidified) and stored at La Hague for several decades, where it awaits final geological disposal. The national policy is to reprocess spent fuel so as to recover uranium and plutonium for re-use and to reduce the volume of high-level waste requiring disposal.

A research programme aimed at studying high-level radioactive waste disposal was set up following legislation that was passed in 1991. The French Waste Management Research Act of December 1991 authorized 15-year studies of three management options for handling high-level or long half-life radioactive waste. They included separation and/or transmutation, long-term storage, and geological disposal. The Meuse/Haute-Marne underground research laboratory in Bure (Meuse) was set up to study the feasibility of a deep geological waste repository in clay for the storing of high-level and long-lived intermediate-level radioactive waste. The French are also searching for a granite site to research. A new law on radioactive waste management was adopted in June 2006, following a public debate on the subject of nuclear waste. It provides a legislative framework for the management of radioactive waste and precises the rules that utilities must comply with to secure funds for decommissioning and waste management in the long-term.

Climate Change

Due to its reliance on nuclear power, the French economy has the second lowest level of carbon intensity in the European Union-25, behind Sweden. Since 1996, France has continued to play an active role in the negotiation of global agreements on environmental protection and sustainable development, in the development of international environmental law and, more generally, in the strengthening of international environmental governance. France has stabilised its greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the UNFCCC. It has partly decoupled CO2 emissions from GDP growth, mainly thanks to emission reductions from industrial operations and to the fact that the economy has become an increasingly service-oriented one. CO2 emissions per unit of GDP are low. France is on target for meeting its Kyoto Protocol targets.

Public acceptance

An opinion poll published in June 2008 , commissioned by the OE (Observatoire de l’Energie) and conducted by CREDOC, shows that a majority of French people support nuclear. The respondents were asked whether nuclear energy, which produces around 80% of France’s total electricity production, is an asset. 48% of them backed the idea, and 40% considered it was a disadvantage, 12% didn’t have an opinion. Two public debates took place from autumn 2005 until June 2006: the first one on the EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) that is about to be built in Flamanville, the second one on radioactive waste management .

1. You can have access to the website of the CEA at: http://www.cea.fr/
2. For further information, consult the ASN website at: http://www.asn.fr/
3. The website of Areva NP is available at : http://www.areva-np.com
4. The opinion poll is available at: http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/energie/statisti/ins-barometre12.pdf
5. The results of the public debate on the EPR are available at: http://www.debatpublic-epr.org/index.html
6. The results of the public debate on radwaste management are available at: http://www.debatpublic-dechets-radioactifs.org