Civilian plutonium stocks in France 1994-2008

Unirradiated plutonium stocks in France, in the form of separated plutonium or in fresh plutonium fuel (MOX) products have increased steadily since the late 1980s and reached a total of 83.8 metric tonnes by the end of 2008. The amount almost doubled over the last 15 years. The French share has grown even faster, from 21.9 tonnes (51%) in 1994 to 55.5 tonnes (66%) in 2008. The lion's share of the 28.3 tons of foreign separated plutonium belongs to Japan, but precise figures have not been published.

According to AREVA, in 2009 a total of 929 tonnes of spent fuel have been reprocessed at the La Hague plants, a 55% load factor considering its 1,700 tonnes per year licensed capacity. AREVA did not distinguish between domestic and foreign reprocessing and did not indicate throughput per plant (UP2-800 and UP3).

EDF has announced that, starting in 2010, it plans to increase annual reprocessing from about 850 tonnes to 1,050 tonnes of spent fuel and annual MOX loading from 100 tonnes to 120 tonnes. Unless EDF increases the plutonium content in the MOX fuel beyond the currently licensed maximum average of 8.65%, the new strategy will not allow for the reduction of French plutonium stocks. The safety authorities have voiced concern over already increasing doses for the workforce at the MELOX fuel fabrication plant because of higher burn-up plutonium use and past increases in plutonium content in MOX fuel.

French policy of reprocessing and MOX use also fails to reduce or even stabilize the overall plutonium stock, including unirradiated plutonium and plutonium contained in spent fuel. The stocks of plutonium in spent fuel increased by 6.8 tonnes every year on average over the past 10 years, amounting to 226 tonnes by the end of 2008, which is more than 20 times the annual rate of plutonium separation and use under the new EDF-AREVA agreement.

Table 1. Plutonium in France (tonnes, as of December 31)


1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Separated unirradiated Pu
  1. At reprocessing plants 27.8 36.1 43.6 48.4 52
  2. In semi-final products[a] 8.7 10.1 11.3 12.2 11.8
  3. In fuel products[a] 1.8 3.6 5 6.3 6.8
  4. At other facilities in France[b] 4.6 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.3
  5. French Pu in other countries 0.6 0.2 0.2 <0.05 <0.05
    of the total  
      Owned by France 21.9 29.8 35.6 38.7 40.3
      In France owned by foreign bodies 21.6 25.7 30 33.6 35.6
  Total fresh Pu in France [1+2+3+4] 42.9 55.3 65.4 72.3 75.9
Plutonium in spent fuel
1. At reactor sites n.d. n.d. 65 66.7 74.9
2. At reprocessing plants n.d. n.d. 88 88.8 83.4
3. At research sites n.d. n.d. 0 0.5 0.5
  Total in spent fuel in France n.d. n.d. 153 156.0 158.8
Total plutonium in
France
n.d. n.d. 218.4 228.3 234.7
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Separated unirradiated Pu
1. At reprocessing plants 55 53.7 51.1 48.7 48.6
2. In semi-final products[a] 13 14.8 14.1 15 13.3
3. In fuel products[a] 8.2 9.2 9.9 12.7 13.2
4. At other facilities in France[b] 5 5 5.4 3.5 3.5
5. French Pu in other countries <0.05 <0.05 <0.05 <0.05 <0.05
  of the total  
    Owned by France 43.5 44.2 47 46.4 48.1
    In France owned by foreign bodies 37.7 38.5 33.5 32 30.5
  Total fresh Pu in France [1+2+3+4] 81.2 82.7 80.5 79.9 78.6
Plutonium in spent fuel
1. At reactor sites 80 82.6 89.4 91.6 94.1
2. At reprocessing plants 79.2 81.3 83.3 89.8 96.5
3. At research sites 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
  Total in spent fuel in France 159.8 164.4 173.2 181.9 191.1
Total plutonium in
France
241 247.1 253.7 261.8 269.7
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Separated unirradiated Pu
1. At reprocessing plants 50.7 49.8 48.6 49.5 49.3
2. In semi-final products[a] 12.7 14.4 12.7 9.7 7.1
3. In fuel products[a] 12.8 15.9 19.6 22.1 26.6
4. At other facilities in France[b] 2.3 1.1 1.2 0.9 0.8
5. French Pu in other countries <0.05 <0.05 <0.05 <0.05 <0.05
  of the total
    Owned by France 48.8 50.9 52.4 54.9 55.5
    In France owned by foreign bodies 29.7 30.3 29.7 27.3 28.3
  Total fresh Pu in France [1+2+3+4] 78.5 81.2 82.1 82.2 83.8
Plutonium in spent fuel
1. At reactor sites 96.4 99.1 94.6 95.3 96.7
2. At reprocessing plants 101.8 105.9 110.9 116.8 123.3
3. At research sites 0.5 0.5 6.6 6.6 6.5
  Total in spent fuel in France 198.7 205.5 212.1 218.7 226.5
Total plutonium in
France
277.2 286.7 294.2 300.9 310.3


Notes:

[a] Plutonium stored or contained in fresh MOX in fabrication plants and reactors (outside the core).

[b] Includes research reactors and facilities

Sources: Years 1994-1995 - Ministry of Industry, 1997; Years 1996-2006 - Declarations France to IAEA (InfCirc 549), 1997-2009

(with Mycle Schneider)