Nuclear energy in France, status and prospects

Like Korea, France is poor in fossil energy resources. As a consequence, France has chosen to reply on nuclear energy to supply the bulk of its electric power needs: operated by electricite de France (EdF), the national utility, 55 PWRs generate consistently, reliably and economically over 75% of its electricity, and 3 additional units are in the final stage of construction. Since 1974, when the French program has been boosted as a reaction to the first oil crisis, full advantage has been taken from the construction, by FRAMATOME, of series of standardized units of 900 Mwe, then 1300 Mwe and finally 1450 Mwe output. The latest series, called (N4), is presently coming on line on the sites of Chooz and Civaux. To cater for those plants, France has developed all the industrial facilities needed to complete the fuel cycle, with capacity to spare for export: uranium production on a worldwide basis, enrichment in the EURODIF plant at Tricastin, reprocessing and vitrification at the COGEMA plants in La Hague. The plutonium recovered is recycled as MOX fuel in some of the 900 Mwe units (8 today, up to 28 at equilibrium). Reactor and fuel cycle developments are supported by an extensive R and D program carried out in cooperation by the industrial companies and the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA). Considering nuclear power as a lasting resource, France invests also in its future: in the near-term by designing, together with Germany, the next generation EPR and in the longer term by developing the fast neutron reactors, using for that purpose the experience gained by operating Phenix and Superphenix. Also under development is the laser enrichment process, and advanced studies are carried out on alternative ways of dealing with long-lived radioactive wastes. Thorough and uniquely comprehensive, this program has allowed France to enter in the export business: export of electric power to its European neighbors, export of nuclear plants, notably to China, and export of nuclear fuel services all around the world. (author)