Orano - Annual Activity Report 2024 173 SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT 4 Environmental information The HSE policy and its concrete implementation in our strategic priorities relating to water were inspired by the 53 measures for water of the French Ministry of Ecology, the practical guide on water management by watershed for the mining and metallurgical industries of the ICMM and the water guide of France Chimie. The prevention and reduction of water pollution at industrial sites is managed through the impact study. This study identifies potential sources of pollution related to the activity. Then, it helps to anticipate the effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health, by providing precise data on the associated risks. It promotes the implementation of preventive and corrective measures, such as wastewater treatment or the adoption of cleaner technologies, in proportion to the challenges. By integrating environmental concerns from the design phase, the impact study helps to minimize negative impacts on water resources. 2024 IN ACTION: The group contributes to the nuclear industry’s water efficiency plan As part of the water plan, announced in 2023, 16 sectors of the National Industry Council presented roadmaps, thus committing to more than 100 actions for the water sobriety of their companies. The water economy plan for the nuclear industry, to which Orano contributed, made it possible to take stock of water uses and the measures already implemented. The plan defines action priorities for the sector: ● organize water economy; ● actively engage in optimizing the availability of water resources; ● study the storage in soil, aquifers, structures, and more specifically the reinjection into aquifers and storage in hydraulic structures; ● preserve water quality; ● launch Research and Development actions in order to recover some of the water from water vapor plumes, share knowledge about the thermal and hydrobiology of French rivers and anticipate the impacts of climate and humaninduced changes on management water resources; and ● support industrial companies through several successive phases to increase their resilience in the water sector. Managing risks to water resources According to the “Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas” tool of the World Resources Institute (WRI), Orano has no production site in an area currently exposed to high or extremely high water stress. Water stress is a critical situation that arises when available water resources are lower than water demand. In addition to water stress, the group works in areas at risk of water, depending only on availability. With several sites in desert or arid areas, Orano Mining assesses the overall water risk at all its mining sites around the world, combining three risks: physical quantity risk, physical quality risk and regulatory risk. This overall level of risk by country, as well as all the water sources and consumption by its activities, are detailed in Orano Mining’s CSR report. As a member of the ICMM, Orano Mining implements, through its policies, the requirements set out in the ICMM principles on water resource management in terms of performance, namely: application of solid, transparent governance and effective management enabling collaboration between stakeholders to achieve a shared, responsible and sustainable use of the resource. The issue of water is also taken into account in the physical risk analysis conducted by the group. (see Section 4.2.1.2). Actions around instrumentation, recycling and process optimization The actions implemented in recent years focus on the following areas: ● the improvement of the instrumentation of industrial and drinking water networks, as well as the gradual implementation of consumption monitoring, continued at the sites in 2023. They make it possible to repair leaking networks as soon as possible to limit excess consumption; ● multi-year network renovation; ● optimization of consumption in industrial processes; ● improving recycling (washing water, condensate, industrial water); and ● rainwater harvesting. Orano has no production site in an area exposed to high or extremely high water stress. However, the mining sites are present in areas with a global water risk (according to the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas tool) outside Canada and France. The sites in operation are represented on the group’s water working group and take action to reduce their consumption: ● in Somaïr, the search for leaks and repair of weak points, recycling of washing water; and ● in Katco, network instrumentation, industrial water recycling. In addition, a wastewater reuse project is being studied at the Malvési site. Future actions, in order to achieve the 2030 objectives, consist of: ● continuing the actions already undertaken in terms of leak detection and network repair; ● continuing actions around instrumentation, recycling and process optimization to continue on a path of reducing specific consumption in regions with global water risk; and ● putting in place a “water master plan” at each site that uses large amounts of water to guarantee the implementation of the water strategy over time and within the territory of the site concerned (in 2025). In this context, the objective is to promote 3R projects (reduce, recycle, reuse) depending on the availability and quality of the watershed. Innovation work is also underway at group level to improve leak detection on underground networks.
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