In its previous annual reports, the ASN stressed the importance of financing the management of radioactive waste and of decommissioning. Furthermore, the ASN stated that the prospect of a change in the status and partial privatisation of EDF and AREVA requires that a system be implemented to guarantee that sufficient funds will be available, when the time comes, to finance decommissioning of the installations and management of the waste. The ASN confirmed that it will consequently exercise particular vigilance on this point.

In 2005, the ASN observed that this subject had been widely examined both in France and within the European Union.

A number of reports on this subject were published in France in 2005.

In January 2005, the Government Audit Office published a report on the "decommissioning of nuclear installations and management of radioactive waste". This report depicts the situation at the main nuclear licensees (EDF, AREVA, CEA) and proposes a certain number of recommendations. In this respect, the ASN noted the Government Audit Office's approach concerning the cost estimates made by the licensees and the areas of uncertainty (decisions concerning a future deep geological repository, the cost of such a repository, the future of spent fuel in particular MOX) as well as the situation regarding the dedicated assets set up by the licensees. The ASN in particular noted the following recommendations:
– taking inspiration from the best practices in the OECD countries, it would be worth reviewing the means of securing the funds intended for decommissioning and waste management,
– financial information from the companies needs to be improved, and in particular should comprise more details concerning the structure of the future costs and the cost assessments for each category of operations, describing the scenarios on the basis of which they were calculated and giving both the gross value and discounted value of the costs in question.

The Parliamentary Office for the Assessment of Scientific and Technological Options published a report in March 2005 entitled "Research progress and prospects concerning radioactive waste management", which contains a chapter devoted to financing of radioactive waste management. The ASN is particularly attentive to the goals highlighted by this chapter, that is the need for clear, long-term financing and the creation or reinforcement of institutional and financial tools. With regard to resources, and on the basis of experience acquired abroad, the authors of the report recommend the creation of a dedicated fund by the State for waste management, with an initial contribution to it from the producers, followed by annual contributions paid in by them. The report adds that this dedicated fund should finance ANDRA's industrial and research activities, as well as research carried out into separation/transmutation. Finally, given the current context, the report rules out any notion of transfer of responsibility for and ownership of radioactive waste from the producers to a third party, even if accompanied by any fixed, compensatory sum.

In its document entitled "Update of the basic document deposited with the Financial Markets Authority on 23 September 2005", EDF stated that its Board had validated the proposition consisting in:
– when calculating the dedicated assets to be set up (in other words the financial resources that need to be set aside and identified as such) include those plants already shut down and for which dismantling has started, as well as the cost of processing the fuel present in the plant cores at the time of final shutdown;
– speeding up the rate of collection of the dedicated assets, in order to advance from the situation qualified as "embryonic" by the Government Audit Office to one in 2010 corresponding to the forecast sums felt to be necessary by EDF.

The EDF document states that this view is consistent with the conclusions of the report published in the summer of 2005, concerning the role entrusted by the State to the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Council for Mining Engineering, with respect to the problem of dedicated assets.

The report on the mission given to the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Council for Mining Engineering underlines the need to organise a new type of supervision implying intervention by a third-party from outside the companies (Administration, Commission, Supervisory Authority, etc.). In this respect, the report points out that the American experience could constitute a starting point for future consideration required on this subject (every two years, the US NRC reviews documents supplied by the companies assessing decommissioning costs and the adequacy of the corresponding dedicated funds).

At European Union level, a number of actions are being carried out by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council, to ensure fair competition and for safety reasons. These actions consist of:
– periodic reports from the European Commission on the situation in the various countries of the Union and preparation of a recommendation concerning the steps to be taken within the Union for financing radioactive waste management and decommissioning operations;
– a report from the European Parliament on the use of financial resources intended for nuclear power plant decommissioning, currently being adopted;
– work initiated by the Council, following the failure of the directive proposals in 2003 drafted by the Commission concerning nuclear safety, radioactive waste and fuel. It entails wide-ranging discussion by the European countries on these subjects, including the financial resources to be collected, before any implementation of the appropriate instruments on a European scale. This work should reach its conclusion by the end of 2006.

Through its bilateral relations, the ASN has gained greater knowledge of the steps taken by the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. The ASN observes that in these countries, there is a legislative and regulatory framework regulating the financing of radioactive waste management and decommissioning. The funds are generally externalised and managed by legal entities other than the operators. Finally, in some cases (United States and Sweden in particular), the nuclear regulator plays a key role in the overall supervision of the system.

To conclude, the ASN observes that the question of financing radioactive waste management and decommissioning is assuming increasing importance in France and across the European Union.

For its part, the ASN wishes to underline the importance of the following principles:
– The financial resources must be adequate.
This presupposes identifying the future costs (perimeter) and estimating these costs as accurately as possible on the basis of duly clarified scenarios and assumptions.
– The sums gathered in the form of funds must be effectively available when the time comes. This implies that the rate at which each fund is built up is commensurate with the estimated future expenditure and deadlines and that the fund is managed in accordance with the performance targets, but nonetheless with a reasonable degree of prudence. This also presupposes protection of each fund against uses other than those for which it is created, with respect both to the managers of the company and to any creditors.
To achieve this, the system needs to be supervised. The following in particular are required:
– construct a legal and regulatory framework for the various aspects of the question;
– define and implement supervision procedures. This supervision will in particular be based on reports produced by each company and periodically revised, including the scope of the expenditure to be covered by each fund (contributions, fund performance, withdrawals, etc.) and the proposals for replenishment as applicable;
– define procures for clear and complete information with a view to public transparency.

As in certain other countries, the Nuclear Safety Authority must help implement the measures needed to comply with these principles. More particularly, the ASN will naturally be called on concerning the scenarios and assumptions and more generally on the various aspects of the estimation methodology. However, the ASN will need to have wide-ranging powers of access, particularly within the supervision mechanism, in order to ensure that adequate funds are available for radioactive waste management and decommissioning to take place in satisfactory conditions of safety.