France will resume the production of electricity from nuclear sources with the construction of 14 new reactors, as part of its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and leave fossil energy behind, the president announced on Thursday (10) Emmanuel Macron.
“What we have to build today, because it is a good moment (…), is the rebirth of the French nuclear industry”, said Macron in Belfort (east), after recognizing the questions that arose in the last decade after the catastrophe in Fukushima (Japan). ) in 2011.
His plan involves ordering the construction of six EPR2 reactors by 2050 from the French energy giant EDF, with a state majority, and analyzing the possibility of eight additional ones, as well as extending the life of as many reactors in operation as possible.
This latest decision implies a change in direction from 2018 when, also under Macron’s presidency, the goal was set to close a dozen, in this country that stands out in the West for its clear commitment to civil nuclear energy. Germany, for example, will close its last plants in 2022.
Boosted during the governments of Charles de Gaulle (1959-1969) and Georges Pompidou (1969-1974), nuclear energy generated 70.6% of electricity in France in 2020, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In the United States it represented almost 20%.
“We need to resume the thread of the great adventure of civil nuclear energy in France”, highlighted Macron, who in October already announced the investment of 1 billion euros (1.114 billion dollars) in small modular reactors (SMR), in his plan to reindustrialize your country.
The announcement was made at an Arabelle turbine factory, essential for equipping the EPR, EPR2 and SMR reactors, belonging to the American GE Steam Power, but which are included in the exclusivity agreement announced this Thursday by EDF to buy nuclear activities from this company. .
In this way, France recovers this strategic factory for the nuclear sector that Emmanuel Macorn, then Minister of Economy under Socialist President François Hollande, sold in 2015 to General Electric. “It was that or close” the activities, he defended this Thursday.
– Fifty offshore wind farms –
Since then, the covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily paralyzed global supply chains, exposed France’s dependence on foreign industries and, at European level, a recovery plan was adopted that involves the ecological and digital transition.
Although among the French political class there is a certain consensus in favor of nuclear energy, its inclusion by the European Commission as a “green” investment, to facilitate the arrival of money, has divided the countries of the European Union (EU).
This proposal by the Community Executive, defended by France and which will still be debated by the Eurochamber, was rejected by Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, which even announced an appeal in European Justice, as well as NGOs and environmental groups.
Macron “is condemning France to a century of nuclear (energy)”, said before his announcement the environmentalist candidate for the presidency of April Yannick Jadot, who recalled the 17 billion euros and extra costs and the delay in the construction of the EPR of Flamanville. (West).
This is not the only controversy. In recent months, the EDF announced the suspension of the activity of several reactors due to problems with corrosion in the security systems or to carry out controls, a fact that for Macron proves the “security” of the sector in France.
The new reactors announced will be of the EPR type and are considered to be simpler and cheaper to build, as they benefit from the series effect – construction in pairs – and from factory prefabrication or modularization.
However, given the time to manufacture the new EPR2 and the climate emergency, France’s plans also include doubling electricity production from renewable sources by 2030, boosting solar and building 50 offshore wind farms.
“There is no stable industrial production if there is no stable energy at the most competitive prices”, highlighted Macron in his speech, in which he also expressed the benefits for the “energy and climate transition”, for “sovereignty” and “purchasing power”.
With this last reference, the president – who has not yet announced his expected re-election candidacy in the April presidential election – touched on the main concern of the French, in a context of rising energy prices worldwide.
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