EDF may get state loan for six new reactors

The Penly site in Normandy, northern France, where the first pair of EPR2 reactors is planned (Image: EDF)

France's Nuclear Policy Council - headed by President Emmanuel Macron - has agreed that a subsidised government loan should be issued to state-owned power utility EDF to cover at least half the construction costs of six EPR2 reactors.

In February 2022, Macron announced that the time was right for a nuclear renaissance in France, saying the operation of all existing reactors should be extended without compromising safety and unveiling a proposed programme for six new EPR2 reactors, with an option for a further eight EPR2 reactors to follow. The first three pairs of EPR2 reactors are proposed to be built, in order, at the Penly, Gravelines and Bugey sites. Construction is expected to start in 2027. The cost was originally estimated at EUR51.7 billion (USD56.4 billion), but this was revised to EUR67.4 billion in 2023.

The EPR2 reactor is a pressurised water reactor project developed by EDF and Framatome. It meets the general safety objectives of the third generation of reactors. Its aim is to incorporate design, construction and commissioning experience feedback from the EPR reactor, as well as operating experience from the nuclear reactors currently in service.

At a 17 March meeting, the Nuclear Policy Council (CPN) "examined the main principles of the financing and regulatory framework" for the construction of the six EPR2s, the Elysee Palace (the official residence of the French president) said in a statement. "This framework is based on a subsidised government loan covering at least half of the construction costs and a Contract for Difference on nuclear production at a maximum price of EUR100 (USD109) per MWh in 2024 value."

A Contract for Difference is essentially where there is a future fixed price guaranteed for electricity generated, with the government either paying the difference between the market price and the agreed sale price, or receiving payment if the market price is higher.

Elysee said: "This important milestone will allow discussions between the government and EDF to be finalised in the coming weeks and allow for rapid initiation of discussions with the European Commission, with a view to EDF making a final investment decision in 2026."

The Council requested EDF "step up its cost and schedule control efforts" and to present a binding cost and timeframe estimate by the end of the year.

The CPN also validated the action plan aimed at securing the upstream part of the nuclear fuel cycle and "in particular the support that the State will provide to Orano for France's uranium supply in the medium and long term".

Regarding used fuel processing, the Council confirmed continued investment in Orano's programme of upgrades in downstream activities at its La Hague site. This programme includes the storage of used fuel in a new pool installed at La Hague, which should be commissioned by 2040 to meet the needs of the existing nuclear fleet and then the EPR2 reactors.

"These facilities will ensure the proper operation of the fleet, as well as the continued reprocessing of fuel under the best economic and safety conditions, reinforcing France's leadership in controlling all industrial stages of the uranium cycle," Elysee said. "The Council also approved the principle of funding this programme primarily led by EDF, as a future customer of these facilities, and of governance led by Orano, involving EDF, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), and government services."

The CPN requested that industry (EDF, Framatome, Orano), the CEA, and all stakeholders involved in fast neutrons submit to the government a work programme and a proposal for industrial organisation by the end of 2025.

In addition, the Council mandated the General Secretariat for Investment to continue supporting the development of small modular reactors by "prioritising the projects most likely to lead to the commissioning of a demonstrator at the beginning of the 2030s". The CPN also asked the CEA to make the relevant site data from Marcoule and Cadarache available to companies that request it and to initiate discussions with a view to establishing the most advanced projects on these sites.Set up by former President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008, the CPN is a top-level ministerial council on nuclear energy policy. The council sets main policy features as well as their implementation in terms of export, international cooperation, industrial policy, energy policy, research, safety, security and environmental protection. EDF may get state loan for six new reactors
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Telegram CEO Durov released on bail, but formally put under investigation


Paris, (IANS): Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, was released after paying a five-million-euro (about $5.6 million) bail, but he is required to report to the police twice a week, Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

Durov is officially placed under investigation on six charges and he was prohibited from leaving France during the investigation, Beccuau added on Wednesday night as reported by Xinhua news agency.

Durov was arrested by French Police at an airport outside Paris on Saturday night.

Beccuau said on Monday that the Telegram founder is accused of 12 criminal offences, including failing to act against Telegram users involved in cyberbullying, sharing pedophilic content and glorifying terrorism.

He added the arrest "comes in the context of a judicial investigation opened on July 8, 2024".

It also concerns "refusal to communicate, at the request of competent authorities, information or documents necessary for carrying out and operating interceptions allowed by law," the Paris prosecutor said.

In response to the arrest, the Telegram group said on its X account that the company "abides by European Union (EU) laws, including the Digital Services Act".

"It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abuse of that platform," it added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the arrest of Durov is "in no way a political decision".

Durov's arrest in France "took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation," Macron said on social media platform X.

After the arrest, Russia's embassy in Paris has referred a note to the French Foreign Ministry demanding consular access to Durov, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, owner of the US social media platform X, and Edward Snowden, former US National Security Agency contractor, condemned Durov's arrest on Sunday. Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/telegram-ceo-durov-released-on-bail-but-formally-put-under-investigation
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France sets out long-term nuclear recycling plans

Lescure (second from left) and Le Maire (centre) pictured with La Hague Site Director Stéphanie Gaiffe (far left) and Orano CEO Nicolas Maes (on the right) during the visit (Image: Orano)

Minister for the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Bruno Le Maire announced the decision to continue with France's treatment-recycling strategy for used nuclear fuel beyond 2040, with plans to extend the life of existing recycling plants and to launch studies for a new MOX fuel fabrication plant and a new used fuel processing plant.

The announcement was made during a visit by Le Maire and Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy Roland Lescure to Orano's La Hague recycling site, days after France's Nuclear Policy Council (Conseil de Politique Nucléaire) said on 26 February that the country would continue with its closed nuclear fuel cycle strategy.

Le Maire announced three measures that will be taken towards this goal: a sustainability/resilience programme extending the life of the La Hague and Melox recycling plants beyond 2040; the launch of studies for a new MOX fuel fabrication plant at the La Hague site; and the launch of studies for a new used fuel processing plant, also at La Hague, by 2045-2050.

"A new page in French nuclear history is about to open. The time for large-scale national projects has returned and the nuclear energy sector has a central role to play," Le Maire said during his visit to La Hague.

In a post on X, Le Maire said the visit to La Hague by the two ministers sends a strong signal. "Thanks to this strategy, we will ultimately reduce the volume of nuclear waste by 75%," he said. "Our message is clear: nuclear power occupies a central place in the decarbonisation of our economy, the strengthening of our energy sovereignty and the reindustrialisation of our country."

Orano CEO Nicolas Maes said the announcements provide for major investments for the La Hague site. "Processing-recycling is one of the French industry's centres of excellence, representing know-how that has been mastered for some 50 years in our plants and of which all the group's employees can be proud," he said.

From the very beginning of its nuclear programme France has chosen to pursue a closed fuel cycle, reprocessing used nuclear fuel to recover uranium and plutonium for re-use. Reprocessing and recycling fuel in this way also significantly reduces the activity and volume of radioactive waste material requiring final disposal.

In the French model, the reusable materials which make up some 96% of used fuel are separated at La Hague. The plutonium recovered from this processing is reused in MOX (mixed-oxide) fuels manufactured by Orano at the Melox plant. Some 10% of nuclear electricity in France today is generated by recycling materials in the form of MOX fuel, Orano said, and this can rise to 25% and to almost 40% if used MOX fuel is further recycled.

Only the plutonium recovered from processed fuel is currently used in MOX. Reprocessed uranium - or RepU - can be re-enriched for use as fuel in existing light-water reactors. Four of France's reactors - at the Cruas-Meysse plant in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes - are certified to use such uranium. In February, Cruas 2 became the first of those units to operate with a full core of fuel made from recycled uranium.

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