CONSULTING

large-scale new-build. Having assessed EDF’s lifetime extension projects, ASN Chairman Pierre-
Franck Chevet stated during the presentation of the Annual Report 2015:
The continued operation of the nuclear power plants beyond 40 years cannot be taken for granted.
The operating conditions for the nuclear power plants beyond 40 years is still a subject of some
considerable debate. 36
Figure 13: Age Distribution of Operating Nuclear Power Reactors
Number of Reactors
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
© Mycle Schneider Consulting
Age of 402 Reactors in Operation in the World
as of 1 July 2016
Mean Age 29 Year
6
9
25
35
21
19
10
24
10 9
7
13
8
16
11
9
5
2
2
5 4 3
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 47
Sources: IAEA-PRIS, MSC, 2016
However, only one of the 33 units that have been shut down in the U.S. had reached 40 years on
the grid—Vermont Yankee, the latest one to be closed, in December 2014, at the age of 42. In other
words, at least a quarter of the reactors connected to the grid in the U.S. never reached their initial
design lifetime. On the other hand, of the 100 currently operating plants, 37 units have operated
for more than 40 years. In other words, 46 percent of the units with license renewals have already
entered the life extension period, and that share is growing rapidly with the mid-2016 average
age of the U.S. operational fleet standing at 36.2 years (see United States Focus).
If ASN gave the go-ahead for all of the oldest units to operate for 40 years, 22 of the 58 French
operating reactors would reach that age already by 2020.
In assessing the likelihood of reactors being able to operate for up to 60 years, it is useful to
compare the age distribution of reactors that are currently operating with those that have already
shut down (see Figure 13 and Figure 15). As of mid-2016, 59 of the world’s reactors have operated
36 ASN, “The nuclear safety and radiation protection situation is of major concern. ASN is remaining
vigilant”, Press Release, 22 January 2016, see http://www.french-nuclear-safety.fr/Information/Newsreleases/The-nuclear-safety-and-radiation-protection-situation-is-of-major-concern,
accessed 1 July 2016.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 34 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016