EDF_REGISTRATION_DOCUMENT_2017

8.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Glossary

Fuel Cycle

The nuclear fuel cycle encompasses all industrial operations in France and abroad which enable the supply of the fuel to generate energy in a reactor, then to unload and process it. The cycle can be broken down into three stages: upstream: the processing of concentrates from uranium ore, the conversion, enrichment and production of ■ fuel (which takes more than two years); the core of the cycle corresponding to the use of fuel in the reactor: receipt, loading, operation and ■ discharging (which takes three to five years); downstream: pool storage, reprocessing of spent fuel in reactors of recoverable material, vitrification of highly ■ radioactive waste, then temporary storage of the waste before storage. Gas that retains a portion of the solar radiation in the atmosphere and for which an increase in emissions due to human activity (man-made emissions) causes an increase in the earth’s average temperature and plays an important role in climate change. The Kyoto Protocol covers the seven following principal greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrogen protoxide (N 2 O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorated hydrocarbons (PFC), sulfurhexafluoride (SF 6 ) and, since 2013, nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ). Electricity transmission infrastructure that allows for exchanges of energy between different countries, by connecting the transmission network of one country to that of a neighbouring country. Intermediate stage in the process of managing nuclear waste. It involves placing waste packages in a facility to ensure, for a given period of time, their isolation from contact with man and the environment with the intention of retrieving them for a further stage in the waste management process. Intermediate storage facilities are designed, built and managed by the producers of such waste (EDF, AREVA NC (ex-COGEMA) and CEA) and are close to areas where waste is conditioned. French Local Distribution Companies. Local Distribution Companies sell and deliver electrical energy to end users located in their exclusive service area. Natural gas turned into liquid form by reducing its temperature to -162°C allowing for a reduction by 600 in its volume. Unit expressing the collective equivalent dose. A man-sievert is the collective dose from exposure of 1,000 men to 1mSv (milliesievert). A system allowing for the recording, at a given network connection point, of the volumes of electricity transmitted or distributed (power, frequency, active and reactive energy). The MWh is the energy unit generated by a facility and is equal to the facilities’ power, expressed in MW, multiplied by the duration of operations in hours. 1MW = 1,000 kilowatts = 1 million watts 1MWh = 1MW generated in one hour = 1 megawatthour 1GW = 1,000MW = 1 billion watts 1TW = 1,000GW The MWh cumac is the certificate energy unit of counting which corresponds to the cumulative energy savings aggregated on the operations’ lifetime. Zones in France which are not connected to metropolitan France (Corsica and overseas departments). Nuclear safety includes all of the technical, organisational and human measures which are intended to prevent accident risks and to limit the effects of an accident, and which are taken at every stage of the life of a nuclear power plant (from design to operation and finally to decommissioning). Electrical production unit consisting of a nuclear boiler and a turbo-alternator generator. A nuclear tranche essentially consists of its reactor type and the power of its turbo-alternator generator. EDF nuclear plants include two or four tranches, and occasionally six. Fraction of power available, out of theoretical maximum energy, counting only technical non-availability. The availability coefficient (Kd) is defined as the ratio between annual actual generation capacity (or amount producible annually) and maximum theoretical generation capacity, where maximum theoretical generation capacity = installed capacity × 8,760h. The Kd, which counts only technical non-availability, i.e., scheduled shutdowns, unplanned outages and testing periods, characterises a plant’s industrial performance. For EDF’s nuclear fleet in France, the maximum theoretical generation capacity is of 553TWh (63.1GW × 8,760h). Element with the atomic number of 94 (number of neutrons) and no naturally occurring isotopes (elements whose atoms possess the same number of electrons and protons − thus the same chemical properties − but a different number of neutrons). Plutonium 239, a fissile isotope, is produced in nuclear reactors from uranium 238. Maximum energy that hydropower facilities may produce using contributions under normal hydraulicity conditions. However, generation from hydroelectric facilities does vary, sometimes markedly, from one year to the next depending on hydraulicity (rainfall and snowfall). In dry years, the generation index may vary by 20% or more from the standard level. International Atomic Energy Agency based in Vienna (Austria).

Greenhouse gases

IAEA

Interconnection

Intermediate Storage

LDC

LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)

Man-sievert

Metering

MW/MWh

MWh cumac

Non-interconnected zones

Nuclear safety

Nuclear tranche

Plant availability

Plutonium (Pu)

Producible hydropower generation

500

EDF I Reference Document 2017