France prepares to order new nuclear power plant
March 28, 2024
French state energy company EDF announced late on Wednesday that the nuclear supervisory authority has approved the final preparatory steps to put a new reactor into operation.
The plant is now expected to be charged with nuclear fuel in the coming weeks.
The reactor, at Flamanville in the English Channel, is scheduled to be connected to the grid in mid-2024 – 12 years later than initially planned – and will be the first to be commissioned by France in more than two decades.
Massively exceeding budget
Construction of the Flamanville reactor began in 2007.
The installation was originally planned to cost €3.3 billion ($3.6 billion), but is now expected to cost more than €12 billion.
Work on the reactor has been plagued by delays, with leaking weld seams in the steel casing being the most recent cause.
France, the world’s second-largest nuclear power producer after the United States, is considering building 14 or more new plants amid a nuclear renaissance driven in part by concerns about global warming.
It is also planning to extend the life of 32 of its 56 existing reactors if safety concerns are met.
France’s plans contrast sharply with those in neighboring Germany, where nuclear power has been gradually phased out amid a planned transition to renewable energy sources such as wind.
tj/kb(AFP, Reuters)
Source: DW
Lori Barajas is an accomplished journalist, known for her insightful and thought-provoking writing on economy. She currently works as a writer at 247 news reel. With a passion for understanding the economy, Lori’s writing delves deep into the financial issues that matter most, providing readers with a unique perspective on current events.