CONSULTING

operating with plutonium-uranium (MOX) fuels. However, the French Nuclear Safety Authority
has made it very clear that there is no guarantee that lifetime extensions will be granted. A general
decision is indeed expected for 2018 and individual decisions starting in 2019. The French
government and the nuclear energy establishment seem to be decided to gain time, rather than
addressing the issues in the short term.
In 2015, France’s 58 reactors 730 produced 419 TWh or 76.3 percent of the country’s electricity. In
the peak year 2005, 431.2 TWh of nuclear electricity was produced, providing 78.5 percent of the
total.
France is Europe’s largest electricity exporter with 61.7 TWh exported net in 2015, 731 followed
closely by Germany with 60.9 TWh. France has profited in particular from the continued outage
of two nuclear reactors in Belgium (see section on Belgium). The creation of the Central West
Europe (CWE) region (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg),
replacing the Net Transfer Capacities model previously used, cumulates exchanges with the
national entities involved. In other words: “In sum, it is no longer possible to consider borders
separately, and indicators previously used for the France- Belgium and France-Germany borders
have been replaced by France-CWE region indicators.” 732
This is unfortunate as, contrary to the general perception, France remains a net importer of power
from Germany, by 9.3 TWh in 2015, a 58 percent increase over 2014, and has been for a number
of years, because German wholesale electricity generally undercuts French wholesale prices. 733
Figure 50: Age Distribution of French Nuclear Fleet (by Decade)
Sources: IAEA-PRIS, MSC, 2016
The average age of France’s power reactors is 31.4 years in mid-2016 (see Figure 50). In the
absence of new reactor commissioning, the fleet is simply aging by one year every year.
Simultaneously, questions are being raised about the investment needed to enable them to
continue operating, as aging reactors increasingly need parts to be replaced. Operating costs have
increased substantially over the past years. Investments for life extensions will need to be
balanced against the already excessive nuclear share in the power mix, the stagnating or
decreasing electricity consumption, the shrinking client base, ferocious competitors, and the
energy efficiency and renewable energy production targets set at both, the EU and the French
730 All pressurized water reactors, 34 x 900 MW, 20 x 1300 MW, and 4 x 1400 MW.
731 Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), “2015 Annual Electricity Report”, March 2016.
732 Ibidem.
733 RTE, “2015–Annual Electricity Report”, March 2016.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 179 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016