EDF_REGISTRATION_DOCUMENT_2017

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Income Statement

The provisions for long-term radioactive waste management break down as follows:

31/12/2017

31/12/2016

(in millions of euros)

Very low-level and low and medium-level waste

1,161

1,066

Long-lived low-level waste

265

256

Long-lived medium and high-level waste (1)

7,388 8,814

7,644

PROVISIONS FOR LONG-TERM RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT 8,966 At 31 December 2016, provisions for long-lived medium and high-level waste included €581 million of provisions for waste removal and conditioning, which are (1) now reported separately.

started in late 2014 by the French Department for Energy and Climate (Direction Générale de l’Énergie et du Climat or DGEC). In April 2015 EDF and the other producers sent the DGEC their comments on ANDRA’s report and a joint estimation of the target Cigéo storage cost due to divergent approaches. All this information was included, together with the ASN’s opinion, in a report submitted to the Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. On 15 January 2016 the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy issued a ministerial order setting the target cost for the Cigéo storage project at €25 billion under 2011 economic conditions. The cost as defined constitutes an objective to be met by ANDRA, in compliance with safety standards set by the ASN, working in close liaison with the operators of nuclear installations. Publication of this Order entailed an €820 million adjustment to the provision shown in the Group’s financial statements at 31 December 2015. The cost of the Cigéo project defined in the Order has replaced the estimated benchmark cost of €20.8 billion previously used by EDF for its consolidated financial statements. In application of this ministerial order, the cost of the Cigéo project will be regularly updated, at least at each key milestone in the course of the project’s development (authorisation to create the facility, commissioning, end of the “pilot industrial phase”, safety reviews) in accordance with the opinion of the ASN. Design studies for future facilities are currently in process with ANDRA and stakeholders. They include technical and economic optimisation and the responses to the safety option report sent by ANDRA to the ASN in April 2016. The law of 11 July 2016 also clarified the concept of reversibility. In 2017 ANDRA opted for a new configuration to provide the basis for the preliminary project. Under the schedule prepared by ANDRA, the application to built Cigéo (classified as a basic nuclear facility) should be made during 2019 and permission is expected to be granted in 2022. After an industrial pilot phase starting in 2026, the first waste packages should be received in 2031. On 15 January 2018, the ASN issued its opinion on the Cigéo safety option report (DOS Cigéo). It considers that the project has reached satisfactory overall technological maturity at this stage and requires examination of alternatives to the current proposals for storage of bituminous waste at Cigéo. power plants EDF bears full technical and financial responsibility for decommissioning of the nuclear plants it operates. The decommissioning process is governed by French Law of 13 June 2006, Decree 2007-1557 of 2 November 2007, and the French Environment Code (Articles L. 593-25 and following). It involves the following operations for each site: a shutdown declaration, to be made at least two years prior to the planned ■ shutdown date; since the Energy Transition Law of 17 August 2015, the final shutdown, ■ which takes place during the operating phase of the basic nuclear facility, is considered separately from dismantling, as a notable change of lesser importance (simply requiring a declaration by the operator to the Minister and the ASN); an application for decommissioning, which after examination by the authorities ■ and a public inquiry, leads to a single decree authorising the decommissioning; Decommissioning provisions for nuclear 29.1.3

Very low-level and low and medium-level waste Very low-level waste mainly comes from nuclear plant decommissioning, and generally takes the form of rubble (concrete, scrap metal, insulating materials and piping). This type of waste is stored at surface level at the Morvilliers storage centre managed by ANDRA. Low and medium-level waste comes from nuclear facilities (gloves, filters, resins). This type of waste is stored at surface level at the Soulaines storage centre managed by ANDRA. The cost of removing and storing short-lived waste (very low-level and low and medium-level) is assessed on the basis of current contracts with transporters and contracts with ANDRA for operation of the existing storage centres. Long-lived low-level waste Long-lived low-level waste belonging to EDF essentially consists of graphite waste from the ongoing decommissioning of the former UNGG (natural uranium graphite gas-cooled) reactors. As this waste has a long lifetime, but is lower-level than long-lived medium and high-level waste, specific subsurface storage requirements apply under the French Law of 28 June 2006. Following the initial geological investigations, in July 2015 ANDRA remitted a report on the proposed storage centre for long-lived low-level waste on a site located in the Soulaines region (Aube) in France. This report was submitted to the ASN for its opinion. Uncertainties remain about the site’s capacity to accommodate all of the waste included in the baseline inventory of the long-lived low-level waste storage facility. Further studies are planned under the 2016-2018 National Plan for the Management of Radioactive Materials and Waste, concerning both the feasibility of this storage centre and the search for additional waste management solutions. A general industrial plan for management of all long-lived low-level Long-lived medium and high-level waste essentially comes from processing of spent fuel, and to a lesser extent waste resulting from nuclear plant decommissioning (metallic components that have been inside the reactor). The French Law of 28 June 2006 requires reversible storage in deep geological layers for this type of waste. The provision established for long-lived medium and high-level waste is the largest component of provisions for long-term radioactive waste management. Until June 2015 the gross value and disbursement schedules for forecast expenses were based on a scenario of industrial geological waste storage, following conclusions presented in the first half of 2005 by a working group formed under supervision of the State involving representatives of the administrations concerned, ANDRA and the producers of waste (EDF, AREVA (now Orano), CEA). EDF applied a reasonable approach to information supplied by this working group, leading to a benchmark cost, for storage of waste from all producers, of €14.1 billion under the economic conditions of 2003 (€20.8 billion under 2011 economic conditions). In 2012 ANDRA carried out preliminary conceptional studies for the Cigéo geological storage project, after discussing the technical optimisations proposed by the producers of waste. On this basis, ANDRA drew up figures which, in compliance with the Law of 28 June 2006, were subjected to a consultation process with waste producers radioactive waste is also to be remitted by the end of 2019. Long-lived medium and high-level waste

6.

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EDF I Reference Document 2017