Potential costs for the nuclear waste storage project in Bure might surpass initial estimates, with estimates ranging from 26 to 37.5 billion euros.
Nuclear waste burial project in Bure, Meuse, France, revised to cost between 26.1 and 37.5 billion euros over its 150-year lifespan. Launched in 1991, this project aims to bury nuclear waste that will remain highly radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years, 500 meters underground.
According to the latest evaluation by the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), published on May 12th, this Cigeo project has a higher cost estimate compared to the 25 billion euros fixed by ministerial decree in 2016. This increase ranges from 4.4% to 50%.
Delays in obtaining essential authorizations have pushed back the site's commissioning to 2050, which affects the total cost of the project, funded by the three largest producers of hexagonal nuclear waste (EDF, Orano, and CEA).
Delay as a Factor
Since the last Andra evaluation in 2014, key stages of the burial project have taken longer than initially anticipated. Among these stages is the preparation of a 10,000-page file submitted to the Ministry of Energy in 2023, involving 200 Andra employees. Additionally, the growing expertise in large underground projects has been integrated into the project design.
To cut costs while maintaining the same security and safety requirements, Andra has conducted additional studies, allowing for potential savings of up to 3.6 billion euros compared to the project presented a decade ago. Efficient new materials and streamlined processes may reduce costs, according to Andra.
Short and Medium-term Uncertainties
The updated costing takes into account other uncertainties, such as annual site security costs of around 10 million euros, archaeological excavations, and strengthened project management teams. It also integrates various scenarios based on possible changes in taxation and other legislative and regulatory frameworks.
Future nuclear waste taxes, property taxes, and network enterprise tax are among the short and medium-term unknowns, with a possible variation of plus or minus 7.4 billion euros in the total cost depending on the chosen scenario.
The agency bases its calculations on the reference inventory, which consists of the nuclear waste already produced and that will come from future existing or authorized nuclear installations. Approximately 83,000 m3 of the most radioactive waste is expected in Bure, half of which has already been produced.
Future Costs and Challenges
The costing of Cigéo, as a complex and unprecedented exercise, includes construction, operation, maintenance, refurbishment, decommissioning, and closure phases. The period of operation until closure is the most uncertain and accounts for three-quarters of the total estimated cost of the project, between 16.5 and 25.9 billion euros.
From its commissioning around 2050, the average annual cost of Cigeo is estimated between 140 and 220 million euros per year. However, groups opposing the project argue that these estimates do not account for potential accidents, explosions, or other catastrophic scenarios not yet imagined.
The monitoring phase that follows the end of the site's operation, around 2170, could last several hundred years, costing around 600 million euros (over 300 years) or 900 million (over 500 years). Critics state that committing to an industrial project of such a long duration is unrealistic and question the availability and cost of necessary materials for the construction of Cigeo.
It's worth noting that all amounts cited by Andra are in current euros, at 2012 economic conditions. French authorities will finalize cost determinations by consultating with stakeholders and regulators by the end of 202513.
- The Cigeo project, a French nuclear waste burial initiative, has been revised to consider environmental-science factors and the industry's advancements in large underground projects, leading to a higher cost estimate compared to the initial 25 billion euros.
- To address the rising costs while maintaining the same safety and security requirements, the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra) is exploring potential savings of up to 3.6 billion euros, utilizing efficient new materials and streamlined processes.
- Future financing strategies for the Cigeo project will involve the consideration of short and medium-term uncertainties, such as the implementation of nuclear waste taxes, property taxes, and network enterprise tax, which could vary the total cost by as much as 7.4 billion euros depending on the chosen scenario.
