The Elysée intends to shut down the oldest operating nuclear power plants in France and replace them with third generation EPR reactors. According to the newspaper Le Monde, which anticipated the news, the plants in question are those whose operation beyond 40 years would involve such high costs as to make their replacement more advantageous.
In fact, the Nuclear Safety Authority has forced the operator Edf to adapt the plants to the new regulations introduced after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in March 2011.
French President Francois Hollande had pledged to halve electricity consumption by 2050 and to reduce the share of nuclear energy in French electricity production from 75% to 50% by 2025. Today the Ministry of Ecology and Energy commented: “The the president had committed to 50% of nuclear power by 2025, but the ways to achieve this goal remain a debate".
According to the Nouvel Observateur, however, this reduction target will be delayed to 2028 "as soon as possible", as the newspaper Libération had already indicated. In exchange for the closure of around twenty reactors, EDF would obtain authorization for the construction of two or three new EPRs, third generation reactors with greater guarantees of internal and external safety.
