Areva - Reference Document 2016

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SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

2. Environmental information

Nevertheless, AREVA is continuing its studies on the feasibility of further reducing radioactive releases from the la Hague plant, particularly within the framework of the plant’s release permit. These actions are also consistent with the ALARA initiative (“as low as reasonably achievable”) and with the use of best available technology (BAT) to the extent technically and economically reasonable, taking into account the characteristics of the facility, its geographic location and local environmental conditions. The environmental reports published by the group’s French nuclear sites since 1995 and the annual safety reports made available to the public in application of article L. 125-15 of the Environmental Code list radioactive releases and their trends. Measurements of these releases are subject to cross-checks and unannounced inspections by the French nuclear safety authority ASN. The radiological impacts of the nuclear sites on the most exposed members of adjacent populations (reference groups) are estimated each year. These impacts are expressed as the added effective dose in millisieverts per year (mSv/yr.), an indicator of health effects. The radiological impacts are calculated based on actual gaseous and liquid radioactive releases measured during the year and account for the different possible exposure pathways to the populations in question. The radiological impact assessment model of la Hague factors in the various types of radiation (alpha, beta and gamma), the two potential exposure pathways (external exposure and internal exposure by ingestion or inhalation), and the specific behavior of each radionuclide in the human body. It is the result of collaborative efforts with French and international experts and associations under the umbrella of the Groupe Radioécologie Nord-Cotentin (GRNC, the Nord-Cotentin radioecology group). Following the recommendations of the GRNC, the site performs a sensitivity analysis each year. Radiological impacts are calculated for five nearby towns, where radiological monitoring stations are located. If the impacts on one of the towns are greater than on the reference populations, this is made public. Independent experts conducted epidemiological studies to assess the direct health effects of radioactive releases on exposed members of the public. All of the studies conducted over the past 20 years have concluded that the site has a very low impact, with the added effective dose for one year being equivalent to about one day of exposure to naturally occurring radioactivity in the Nord-Cotentin region of France. The group has set a goal of optimizing its management of radiological impacts and standardizing its radiological impact assessment models at all sites with radioactive releases, taking into account special local circumstances related to the life style and eating habits of the population. The order of magnitude of the impacts from the group’s nuclear facilities is very low, at equal to or less than 0.01 mSv (1) . In France, AREVA provides all of the necessary information to the Local Information Commissions (CLI) set up by the government in the vicinity of major energy facilities to foster dialogue with local populations. The group also takes measures to limit as much as possible the impacts of added external radiation at the site boundary to 1 mSv/yr. This corresponds to an extreme theoretical scenario in which an individual stays at the site boundary for an entire year without interruption, i.e. 8,760 hours. More realistic exposure scenarios are taken into consideration when acceptable solutions on an economic and social level cannot be found. To ensure the continuity of the program to reduce the dose at the site boundary, the sites have bolstered dosimetry-based monitoring systems when necessary.

AREVA performs some 100,000measurements and analyses annually on samples taken at 1,000 locations to monitor environmental radioactivity around its sites. Releases in water Nitrogen and uranium releases are directly related to the activity levels and types of products processed in the group’s facilities. AREVA NC la Hague accounts for most of the group’s nitrogen releases (about 550metric tons per year). These releases are directly related to the site’s production level (use of nitric acid in the process). They have declined since the new plants have come onstream with deployment at the end of the 1990s of effluent management aimed at recycling the acid. They have been relatively constant since then. Uranium releases in aquaticmedia from the group’s sites, taken together, have been stable for several years. The changes observed aremainly due to legacymining sites, now shut down, with residual uranium releases varying as a function of rain levels. Atmospheric releases The group’s operations release some gases which contribute to global warming, depletion of the ozone layer and atmospheric pollution. These are primarily: p direct emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with the burning of fossil fuels (CO 2 ) and with nitrogenous releases (N 2 O) from operations related to the treatment of uranium oxide; p indirect emissions of greenhouse gases associated with the use of electricity and thermal power; and p gaseous releases such as volatile organic compounds (VOC), acid-forming gases and ozone-depleting gases. Greenhouse gas releases Since its establishment, the group has led a strongly proactive strategy for reducing its direct emissions of greenhouse gases. The aim of the current environmental strategy is tomaintain a high level of performance in terms of environmental footprint. Among the new actions taken in 2016 are the change in the method of shipping UF 4 from the AREVA NC Malvési site to the AREVA NC Tricastin site (by rail). For direct greenhouse gas emissions, a total of 396,755 metric tons of CO 2 equivalent was released compared to 526,865 metric tons of CO 2 equivalent in 2015. The decrease is related to the June 2016 startup of Comurhex II. Carbon production to identify greenhouse gases related to scope 3 has not been assessed recently. Radioactive releases Radioactive releases have fallen sharply in the past 30 years, reflecting the continuous improvement initiatives deployed by the group’s entities. For example, the radiological impacts of the la Hague site have been divided by five to seven in the past 30 years, and the impacts on the reference group have been stable for several years now at around 10 μSv/year, down from approximately 70 μSv in 1985. These efforts paved the way for compliance with more stringent regulatory standards in the European Union, as transposed into French law, which currently set the maximum added effective dose to the public at 1 mSv per year, compared to an average of 2.9 mSv per year for exposure to naturally occurring radiation in France (source: IRSN, 2016) and 1 mSv to 10 mSv per year in the rest of the world.

(1) To be compared with the average of about 2.4 mSv per year for naturally occurring exposure in France.

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2016 AREVA REFERENCE DOCUMENT