Sucess story of nuclear power in France

Success story of nuclear power in France

Nuclear power is primary source of energy in France. 79 percent of nuclear power contribute to the  total production of electricity. France is also world’s  net exporter of electric power 18 percent of total production of electricity to Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium , Britain and Germany as its electricity cost is among lowest in Europe. France  nuclear power industry has been called “ a success story “ that has put nation ahead of world in terms of providing cheap, co2 free energy. France nuclear reactors are mainly used in load following mode and some reactors close on week ends because there is no market for the electricity. This means that the capacity factor low by world standards which is not ideal economic situation for  nuclear power plants.

As on 2002, Electricite  De France (EDF) the country main electricity generation and distribution  company manages 59 nuclear power plants. At 2008,these plants produce 90 per cent of EDFs and 78 per cent France’s electric power production, making EDF the world leader production of nuclear power percentage.

In 2006 French government asked Areva and EDF to build next generation nuclear reactor, the EPR ( European Pressurized Reactor ) at the Flamanvile  nuclear power plant. This followed in 2008 by presidential announcement of another new EPR spurred by high oil and gas prices. A site for that unit should start in 2011.

Since France first power plant was opened in 1965 in 2001 Areva the world leading company in nuclear energy was created by merger of CEA industrie  and Cogema (now Areva NC) its main share holder is French owned company CEA, but the German government holds, through Siemens , 34 per cent share Areva subsidiary Areva NP in charge of building EPR ( third generation nuclear reactor ).

Technical over view

During such a large percentage over view electrical production from nuclear power is unique in France. This reliance has resulted in certain necessary deviations from standard design and function of other nuclear power programs. For instance, in order to meet changing demand thought the day, some plants must work as a peaking power plant, whereas most nuclear power plants in world operate as base load plants and allow  other fossil and hydro units to adjust the demand. Nuclear power in France has a total capacity factor around 77 per cent which is low due to load following. However availability is around 84 per cent including excellent overall performance of plants.

The France 8 power plants in the nation were  gas cooled reactor types ( UNGC reactor ) where development was pioneered by CEA, coinciding with uranium enrichment program, EDF developed pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology which eventually became dominant type. The gas cooled reactors located at Brennilis ,Bugey, Chinon, and Marcoule all have been shut down.

All operating plants today are PWRs with exception of Phoenix , which part of an initiative to develop sodium cooled fast breeder reactor technology. The super Phenix a larger, more ambitious version has been shut down.

The PWR plants were all developed by Framatome ( which Areva now ) from initial Westinghouse design. All PWR Plants are one of variation design having out put power of 900 Mwe.1300MWe,and 1450MWe .The repeated use of these standard variants of design has afforded France the greatest degree of nuclear power plant standardization  in the world.

900MWe class
There are total 34 of these reactors in operation most are constructed in 1970 and  early 1980s. In 2002 they uniform review and all were granted a 10 year life extension.

1300MWe

There are 20 reactors of this design  ( four steam generators and four primary circulation pumps ) operating in France.

1450 Mwe(N4)class.
There are only 4 of these reactors housed at two  separate sites Civaux and Chooz . The construction of these reactors started in1984 and 1991 but full commercialized operation did not begin until 2000 and 2002 of thermal fatigue flaws in heat removed systems requiring the redesign and replacement of parts in each N4 power site. In 2003 the station were up graded to 1500MWe. It is unlikely that more of this class will rebuilt because it is expected to be superseded by large 1650MWe EPR design.

European Pressurized Rector

The next generation design for French reactor will be European Pressurized Reactor ( EPR ) which will have a broader scope than France alone with pilot plant in Finland undergoing construction and with marketing activities extending to United States and China. The first French EPR is under construction at Flam vile nuclear power plant and should be operational in 2012. The second EPR reactor will be built at Penly  nuclear power plant with construction  starting 2012 and completion schedule for 2017.

The reactor is newest reactor design in the world. It was developed by AREVA contributing its N4 reactor technology and German company SIEMENS  contributing KONVOI reactor technology. In keeping with French approach of highly standardized plants and proven technology. It uses more traditional active safety systems and is more similar to current plant design than international competitors such as AP1000 or ESBWR.

In 2005 EDF announced plan to replace current nuclear power projects with new 1630MWe units as they reached end  of life, starting around  2020. This decision confirm that France is planning indefinitely using nuclear power as its primary electric source. In order to replace the current 50 reactors one large unit will have to be built about every year for about 40 years. 

Cooling

The majority of nuclear power plants in France are located away  from seacoasts and obtain their cooling water from rivers. These plants employing cooling towers to reduce their impact on the environment. The temperature of emitted water carrying waste heat is strictly limited  by French government and this has proved to be problematic during recent heat waves.

4 plants equaling 14 reactors are located at coast.
Grave lines nuclear power plant
Penly nuclear power plant
Paluel nuclear power plant
Flamanvile nuclear power plant

These 4 gets their cooling water directly from ocean and can thus dump heat directly back into sea, which is slightly more economical.

Fuel cycles.

France is one of the few countries in world with active nuclear reprocessing program with the COGEMA la Haque  site. Enrichment work, some MOX fuel fabrication and other activities takes place at the Tricastin nuclear power centre. Enrichment is completely domestic and is powered by 2/3 of the out put of nuclear power plant Tricastine.  Reprocessing of fuel from other countries has been done for U.S. and Japan who   have expressed the desire to develop a more closed cycle similar is what France is achieved. Mox  fuel fabrication  series have also been sold to other countries notably US. for the Megatons to Megawatt program using plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapon.

While France does not mine uranium for the front end of fuel cycle domestically. French companies have various holding in uranium market. Uranium for the French program  total 10,500 tonnes  per year coming from various location sites such as

Canada -4500 tons /year
Niger ----3200 tons /year

Final disposal of high level waste is planned to be done at Mause/ Hautemame  under ground research laboratory deep geological repository.

India should develop nuclear energy with international technology to reduce dependence on oil and gas resources just like the way France developed nuclear energy in their country.