PARIS, Feb. 10, 2022 (EIRNS) – Speaking in the eastern town of Belfort, one of the last strongholds of France’s industrial might, President Macron confirmed that France will build six new reactors in the coming decades. The first new reactor, an upgraded version of the 1650 MW (generation 3+) European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), is to come online by 2035. Studies for a further eight reactors beyond the initial half-dozen new plants will be launched, Macron added.
According to the announcement, the new reactors will be built and operated by state-controlled energy provider EDF. Tens of billions of euros in public financing will be mobilized to finance the six plants, estimated to cost about €50 billion ($57.36 billion).
EDF also confirmed on Thursday that, as requested by Macron, it would buy back the France-based nuclear turbine unit from General Electric, which Macron, when he was minister, had sold to the American firm. The earlier sale of the French site producing the “Arabelle” turbines for the French nuclear industry and nuclear submarines was considered a dramatic loss of sovereignty.