FRENCH REACTORS TO SWITCH TO DOMESTIC RECYCLED URANIUM?

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (lukas-lehotsky)

France is a country known for its nuclear reactors, which generate as much as 70 percent of the required electricity.

In 2023, the country had 55 nuclear reactors. However, one nuclear power plant, on the Rhone River in the southeastern part of the country, has switched to sustainable nuclear power, using fuel made from recycled uranium. This revived the domestic uranium processing industry, with France allowing this nuclear plant to be involved in accomplishing the goal of reducing the consumption of natural resources by 25 percent over the next decade.

When it comes to sustainable nuclear energy, France has substantial experience in this field. Reprocessed enriched uranium is the material obtained by processing used nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors, where the uranium is separated, enriched and then reused in the reactors. This reprocessing process is carried out at the factory in The Hague and in this way, nuclear fuel is efficiently used, according to World Nuclear News.

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A total of four reactors in France have been certified to use this kind of enriched reprocessed uranium.

EDF (Électricité de France), the state-owned power company, is now implementing a strategy aimed at the use of recycled uranium, which should, in addition to natural resources, reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent over the next decade, compared to the use of non-recycled nuclear fuel, reports the world media.

In addition to preserving natural resources, and reducing CO2 emissions, which contributes to sustainability and circularity, this strategy increases France’s energy independence.

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