Orano - Annual Activity Report 2024 189 SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT 4 Environmental information The group’s portfolio of new growth opportunities includes around fifty ongoing explorations, for a total of around 1 billion euros in potential target revenue. In addition to technical-economic and climate values, environmental, social and cultural aspects are taken into account to make them sustainable over time. Group stakeholders are involved in the co-construction of new industrial value creation models or their modernization. Pilot projects are underway at the group’s industrial sites (la Hague, Malvési, Melox) to validate the associated value creation. R&D dedicated to the preservation of resources and health All of the group’s developments are supported by a Research and Development policy to support its long-term commercial and technological positioning, guaranteeing its sustainable development, in compliance with applicable regulations, directives and processes, in the areas with the highest development potential. At December 31, 2024, Research and Development expenses amounted to 172 million euros, i.e., 2.9% of the period’s revenue, up from 2023. The teams carry out around 60 projects in the fields of nuclear and medical R&D and the recovery of strategic metals. Around 90% of R&D efforts focus on low-carbon activities or products. Among these projects, Orano aims for an industrial demonstration plant for the decommissioning of hulls by 2030 to significantly reduce final nuclear waste. This project, led by Orano in partnership with other industrial players, obtained funding from France Relance in 2023. It aims to reach a level 3 TRL (Technology Readiness Level) in 2025. Orano works with the ecosystem of players, in France and abroad, who develop new concepts for nuclear reactors such as Small Modular Reactors (SMR), Advanced Modular Reactors (AMR) and Molten Salt Reactors (MSR), in response to global low-carbon energy needs and for even safer nuclear power. This innovative molten salt reactor technology using fast-spectrum chlorides would make it possible to use, as fuel, both the plutonium contained in the used fuel from the current fleet of 3rd generation reactors, but also materials contained in used fuel and considered until now as waste (minor actinides). They would thus make it possible to reduce the volume and radiotoxicity of nuclear waste. Coupling this technology with the recycling of uranium and plutonium in light-water reactors already in use in some countries, via the processing of used fuel in a plant such as Orano la Hague, would enable us to go even further in terms of safety, material recovery and nuclear waste reduction. Orano does not design reactors but aims to support the ecosystem of start-ups developing these new MSR-type reactor concepts, supplying them with a fuel whose properties will enable a satisfactory level of safety and a competitive production cost to be achieved, while providing engineering, transportation, packaging, management of their used fuel, etc. Orano also wants to provide them with a unique experience in the design and operation of chemical industrial facilities, to accelerate the emergence by 2030 of this new innovative nuclear industry that can reduce the volume and radiotoxicity of nuclear waste. New activities being developed around circularity Thanks to its skills and technologies, the group is developing new activities such as the production of stable isotopes, nuclear medicine and the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. Through its medical subsidiary Orano Med, Orano has been developing innovative treatments against cancer since 2009 combining the use of a biological vector targeting cancer cells and lead-212 (212Pb), a very rare radioisotope. This approach is known as targeted alpha therapy. By destroying malignant cells while limiting the impact on healthy cells, it offers promising prospects for patients currently facing a therapeutic gap. Orano is a world leader in uranium conversion and enrichment. With more than 60 years of expertise in these fields, Orano wishes to apply its know-how and cutting-edge technologies to new sectors. On these solid and recognized foundations, Orano has decided to launch a new activity to produce stable isotopes, which are non-radioactive forms of atoms used in a large number of applications. These isotopes have a broad spectrum of uses, ranging from nuclear medicine (a basic material for many radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, improvements in the resolution of magnetic resonance imaging) to industry (improvement of laser performance, reduction of radioactive waste in the cooling circuits of nuclear power plants, etc.) to basic research (quantum computers, biomedical research, materials research, etc.). Orano’s production of stable isotopes relies on the competencies and cutting-edge technologies used for the transformation, conversion, and enrichment of uranium. Since 2020, Orano has been exploring the development of a new activity around the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. Battery recycling is an important issue for the preservation of the environment by limiting the impact on natural resources. Orano and CEA Liten have developed an innovative process with a lowcarbon footprint by combining their respective skills in a joint laboratory in Grenoble (France). This hydro-metallurgical recycling process makes it possible to purify and recover the metals of interest (lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc.) contained in the batteries of electric vehicles for recycling into new battery production. For more information, see Section 2.3.4 Orano’s other operations Targets in terms of circularity in products Orano aims to develop its activities in line with the circular economy. As part of the Commitment roadmap for 2030, Orano aims by 2030 to: ● market at least one cancer-fighting drug (see Section 2.1.2.4); and ● launch the Back End of the Future projects (i.e., program for the sustainability of the used fuel processing and recycling activity in France). See Section 2.1.2.5. These objectives are voluntary in nature.
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