Modle de prsentation EDF Rouge

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The Nuclear Waste Jean-Claude Lecomte Internationa
l Executive Advisor EDF Nuclear Operations
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Presentation summary

• Nuclear solid waste different way of treatment 
  
• The spent fuel reprocessing

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Nuclear solid waste different way of treatment 

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1 kg of Nuclear solid waste release / Inhabitant
/ year

• Production 100 times lower than that of the other
  toxic chemical industrial waste among which some
  remain toxic for eternity

• The radioactivity of the waste is more or less
  important, but the radioactivity decreases
  always during the time

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A selective sorting of the solid waste by  
families 

• EDF sorts out its waste in several families among
  which the volumes and the levels of radioactivity
  are very different

• 98 of solid waste having " a short life "
  (life expectancy of less than 30- year-old in
  average) low-level waste
• Rubbles and scraps of the decommissioning 80
• Low-level Activity, comparable on average
  to a granite ground
• Waste of the operations and the maintenance of
  power plants 18
• Protective dresses , gloves, tools,
  filters, resins
• Low or medium- level activity

• 2 of waste having " long life activity"
  high-level waste (several thousand years)
• Spent fuel unloaded from the core of the reactor
  
• Content more than 99 of the radioactivity
  generated by a power plant
• Medium-activity (structures) or High-activity
  (fission products)

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Low-level waste (98) an industrial process
under control (1/2)

• Low- Level Waste (LLW) is packaged into the form
  of parcel adapted to their radioactivity level
• Locked into metal drums

• Cemented in concrete drums

• cremated or melted into a applied furnace

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Low-level Waste (98) an industrial process
under cotrol (2/2)

• The drums of solid waste are then evacuated at
  the Storage Center of the ANDRA (National
  Radioactive waste Management Agency) adapted to
  the family of waste
• The solid waste coming from the Operation the
  Maintenance of power plants is stored in the
  Storage Center of Soulaines
• Open in 1992
• Used in approximately 15 of its total capacity
  until now
• Content record of the drums is guaranteed
• Long-term monitor is planned when the storage
  will be closed

• The decommissioning waste of power plants is
  stored in the center of Morvilliers
• Open in the middle Août 2003

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High-level Waste (2) a solution of management
of our time scale

• Core unloaded from the reactor after use

• the nuclear fuel cools in the cooling pool of
  the power plant and then cools at the COGEMA
  pools several years

• The reprocessing (COGEMA) an operation of
  sorting recycling
• The ultimate waste release (4) are chemically
  sort out from the recycling material (96)
• The high-level waste are vitrified melted with
  glass heating up at a high temperature and pored
  into a stainless steel canister and then frozen.
  The vitrification guarantees that radioactive
  material will stay into the glass on the scale of
  several thousand years

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The canister of vitrified waste are stored under
surveillance in the storage facility of COGEMA
Hague

• Installations specially conceived to guarantee
  the safety
• An intermediate stage necessary for the cooling
  of glass blocks
• A safe and compact solution for about fifty year
  at least

• Volume of vitrified waste for 15 years of
  operation of 58 reactors
• gt the equivalent volume of an Olympic
  swimming pool

• Looking forward to a long term solution
  management

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The spent fuel reprocessing
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The nuclear fuel cycle
Uranium ore
U
O
U
O
Mining
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3
8
C
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Chemistry
Chemistry
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UF6 natural
Long term solution (Still pending)
Enrichment
Low-level waste
Fresh fuel elements
Spent fuel
F
Fuel Fabrication
High-level waste
plutonium
URT
Low-level waste
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Reprocessing reduce by 10 the volume of the
high level waste
Without any reprocessing 1,5 m3 of high level
waste (including the storage packaging)
With reprocessing 0,07 m3 of high level waste and
0,1 m3 of medium activity waste
1 fuel element 500 kg
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Reprocessing a valuable energy resource

• Spent fuel represents
• ( 1) plutonium as long term energy resource,
  under safeguard rules
• (95) recovered uranium, still sligthly enriched
  
• ( 4) fission products and minor actinides
  to be treated as waste
• The recycling of valuable material and high level
  waste vitrification remain the main options for
  the back end of the fuel cycle
• decision in 1984 to recycle plutonium in the PWR
  900 MW units,
• by using a mixed uranium and plutonium fuel
  (MOX),
• first MOX loading in 1987 at Saint Laurent B,
• gradually extended to 20 units 900 MW
• The choice for reprocessing - recycling was made
  by other developed countries
• Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Germany (until
  2005)

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Reprocessing a valuable energy resource

• Nuclear production (total) 430 TWhe/year
• Nuclear fuel
• UO2 ? 1000 HMt/year
• MOX ? 100 HMt/year
• Transportation of spent fuel after 2 years
  cooling ....
• Reprocessing at Cogema - La Hague 850 HMt/year
  , 6/8 years after unloading
• MOX fabrication
• recycling of separated plutonium , along with
  reprocessing
• 100 HMt/yr or 220 MOX assemblies/year
• loaded on 20 reactors, 30 of the core
• MOX fuel electricity production ? 30 to 40
  TWhe/year

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Conclusion

• The Nuclear solid waste is sorted out by activity
  level
• The low-level waste treatment is an industrial
  process under control
• The spent fuel reprocessing
• reduce the waste volume
• preserve the energy resources using the plutonium
  in the MOX fuel
• a safe and long term confinement for High Level
  Waste by vitrification, leaving open the various
  long term back end options under RD studies