President of France Emmanuel Macron February 3 chaired the first in a series of meetings on nuclear policy to discuss investment and recycling issues nuclear waste.
This move comes as France is increasingly relying on nuclear power and must ensure the safety of nuclear waste.
Currently, the La Hague region in northwest France is the only site in the country capable of processing and partially reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.
The nuclear fuel cooling tanks at the facility in The Hague could be full by the end of the decade and the state-owned company Orano, which operates the tanks, said the government needed to devise a long-term strategy. to modernize recycling facilities by 2025.
France relies on nuclear power for about 70% of its energy needs. Since opening in 1976, the La Hague facility has processed nearly 40,000 tons of radioactive material and partially recycled its components. nuclear fuel can be reused.
However, power company EDF says the current four cooling tanks could be full by 2030. EDF operates 56 nuclear reactors in France, the second largest in the world, after the US.
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When the tanks are full, France’s nuclear reactors will have nowhere to store spent fuel and will have to close. This scenario led the French Court of Auditors in 2019 to identify La Hague as “an important sensitive point.”
EDF is pushing to build one more cooling tank in The Hague, at a cost of 1.25 billion euros ($1.37 billion) to store spent nuclear fuel – the first step before the waste can be disposed of. handle.
However, this tank will not be operational until at least 2034.
In January, the French National Agency for the disposal of nuclear waste requested approval for a project for the long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste.
Under the scheme, called Cigeo, the waste will be buried 500m underground in a clay frame in eastern France. The facility is expected to be built in 2027 if approved.
Thuc Anh (VNA/Vietnam+)