Areva, CEA and EDF create consultative body
Areva, EDF and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have launched a tripartite consultative body to "best confront the profound changes currently under way in the highly-competitive nuclear sector".
In separate statements, the three said they had decided to create the French Nuclear Platform (Plateforme France Nucléaire, PFN) "in order to developed aligned positions to meet the major challenges facing the French nuclear sector and to prepare the appropriate decisions". They said the new body would "discuss the major transversal topics for the nuclear sector in France and abroad".
The objective of the PFN is "to improve the joint effectiveness of the three entities", they said. In particular, it will "devise a shared vision of the medium- and long-term goals for the sector, which will contribute to the preparation and implementation of decisions taken by the French Presidential Nuclear Policy Council (Conseil de Politique Nucléaire)".
Six representatives of Areva, CEA and EDF - including their respective chairmen - will meet four times a year. The body's chairman will be decided on a rotating basis with a mandate lasting one year. Areva chairman Philippe Varin will be the first to chair the PFN.
By the end of 2016, the PFN will establish a working agenda that will cover current priority topics. These, the organizations said, will include the impacts on France's nuclear industry of the country's energy transition law and the industry's international strategy, which is to be drawn up with government ministries. Other issues are the review of technological options for the "new model" of the EPR reactor design, referred to as the EPR NM.
The PFN will also consider the "consolidation of relations" with small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in coordination with the French Nuclear Industry Strategic Committee (Comité Stratégique de Filière Nucléaire) and the coordination of positions on regulatory changes, particularly regarding nuclear safety requirements and objectives.
Through the PFN, the three will also work together on the future of the closed nuclear fuel cycle both in France and abroad as well as optimizing the Cigéo national repository for the disposal of intermediate- and high-level waste. They will also look at the development of decommissioning technologies and the research and development program for fourth-generation reactors.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
