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LIC THEMATIC REPORT
, 8 February 2012
costs of the nuclear power sector
our des Comptes report brings together all the factual data currently available concerning the
present and future costs of generating nuclear electricity in France. It does not take a position as to
sirable level of this output or how it should be funded.
st expenditure is reasonably well identified
avy initial investment
otal cost of building the nuclear power generating facilities was €121 billion
2010
(excluding the
ruction of Superphénix).
onstruction of the 58 existing reactors
, with total installed capacity of 62,510 megawatts
, cost
€96 billion
2010
.
In addition to this initial investment, the
cost of building the first generation
further
€6 billion.
Furthermore, the
investments required for the fuel cycle
, in particular
the
g up of the
reprocessing industry
, currently operated by AREVA, cost France
€19
billion
2010
.
e construction cost per megawatt has risen over time
s of reactor power, initial construction costs have risen over time, from €1.07
million
2010
/MW in
(Fessenheim) to €2.06 million
2010
/MW in
2000 (Chooz 1 and 2). For the prototype Flamanville EPR,
n estimated construction cost of €6 billion and an output of 1630 MW, the cost is €3.7 million per
ajor research expenditure
ate and public-sector research spending
, which came to
€55 billion
2010
(1 billion
euros per
on average) and the cost of Superphénix (€12 billion for investment, operation and shutdown) are
into account, the
total amount of past investment amounts to €188 billion
2010
.
early defined current operating expenses
annual operating expenses came to €8.9 billion
2010
for a total power output of 407.9
att-hours (TWh) in 2010. These costs are clearly identified and there is no particular difficulty
ed in their calculation.
rly, public spending came to €414 million
for research and €230 million for costs relating to
y, security and information to the public, for a total of €644 million in 2010
.
uture costs that are uncertain by their very nature
otal of such costs as of the end of 2010 has been estimated at
€79.4 billion
2010
, of which
illion
2010
is to be borne by EDF.
e charges include dismantling costs,
i.e. the costs of “demolishing” power plants, currently
ated at €18.4 billion
2010
of gross expenditure to dismantle the 58 reactors currently in use. The
des Comptes is of the opinion that the calculation methods used by EDF are appropriate, but
ot validate their technical parameters
in the absence of in-depth studies by experts.
er significant future cost is
long-term waste management, the estimated cost of which is
billion
2010
.
This is a tentative estimate since no firm decision has yet been made about the project
consideration for the disposal of long-lived waste (i.e. placing it in a deep geological repository).
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its investigations, the Cour des Comptes has concluded
that all future costs have been
rly identified
by operators,
but have not all been assessed with the same degree of accuracy
.
gh the nature of these estimates is such that they are inevitably far from certain,
the Cour des
tes is of the opinion that these future costs are likely to increase.
aintenance investments set to increase
red in 2010, EDF’s maintenance investment programme for 2011-2025 came to €50 billion: an
l average of approximately €3.3 billion and almost twice the amount of investment in 2010 (€1.7
). The cost of the investments needed to meet the requirements of the ASN, the French Nuclear
y Authority is today estimated at some €10 billion, half of which is already planned in the initial €50
programme.
verall generating costs to increase
rating electricity from nuclear power is a long-cycle, capital-intensive industry in which the cost
ital is a variable – and one which has a highly significant impact when calculating the overall cost
ed.
uneration of capital is taken into account,
using the so-called current economic cost model,
reflects all costs throughout the operating lifetime of the fleet and enables comparisons with other
of power generation to be made,
the average generating cost per MWh comes to €49.5 on the
of 2010 data.
our des Comptes has shown that
while the impact of changes in future costs relating to
antling and waste management is limited, fluctuations in maintenance investment costs have
ore impact, equivalent to around 10 percent of the average cost.
ower plant service life: a strategic choice
and above the issues of dismantling and final waste disposal,
the Cour des Comptes’
sis shows that the service life of power plants currently in operation is a major factor
in
y policy. It has a
significant impact on the cost of the industry
, enabling investments to be
n off over a longer period of time. In addition, it
defers both dismantling costs and the need to
t in new power plants
.
ourt has noted that
by the end of 2022, twenty-two of the fifty-eight reactors will have
ed their fortieth year of service
. Consequently, assuming an average service life of 40 years,
a
ve level of investment would be required,
equivalent to the construction of 11 EPR reactors, to
ain constant levels of nuclear power output – by the end of 2022.
Implementing an investment
amme of this scale in the short term appears
highly unlikely or indeed impossible
, not least due
ustrial considerations.
absence of any such investment decision, an implicit decision has therefore been taken
lready commits
France: either
its power plants must be made to last more than 40 years
, or
nergy mix must be quickly and significantly altered
in favour of other sources of energy, which
es additional investments.
ective of the choices made
, in order to maintain current levels of power generation,
major
tments must be planned
in the short and medium term, representing at least
a doubling of the
nt pace of maintenance investment.
This doubling will mean
an increase in average generation
of some 10 percent.
Cour des Comptes is of the opinion
that rather than being made by default,
future
tment decisions should involve an energy strategy which is formulated, debated and adopted
ully transparent and explicit manner.
a contacts:
Dorine Bregman – Communications
Director – Tel +33 (0)1 42 98 98 09 –
dbregman@ccomptes.fr
Denis Gettliffe – Media Relations Officer – Tel +33 (0)1 42 98 55 77 -
dgettliffe@ccomptes.fr