English Some Digressions on the Life Cycle Analysis of a Nuclear Power Plant in France

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates the potential environmental, social and economic impacts of a system (product, service, process, value chain). It is based on an inventory of material and energy flows for the different phases of a product's life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to waste management. LCA, which is governed by ISO standards, makes it possible to account for pollution transfers between different stages of a process ("cradle to grave") and between pollutants (multi-criteria approach). Our study aims to identify the challenges of applying LCA to a nuclear power plant, using system dynamics tools (Causal Loop Diagrams, Stock and Flow Diagrams via STELLA software) and the latest developments in Life Cycle Analysis (OpenLCA software).