France is planning to shut down up to 17 nuclear reactors in the next eight years to reduce the contribution of nuclear power in its energy mix. France 24 has reported that the country’s nuclear plants are ageing with the average plant already over 30 years old leaving just about 10 years or so in their lifespan. Out of the 58 nuclear reactors that France has, 15 of them have crossed the 35-year mark. The Fessenheim nuclear power reactor built near the Franco-German border in the historical region of Alsace in 1977 is the oldest of the lot approaching towards the end of its lifespan. In April, the French government had issued a decree to cease power generation at the 1.8GW Fessenheim reactor by April 2020. Owned by the state-controlled electric utility, Électricité de France (EDF), Fessenheim will operate until the commissioning of the 1.65GW Flamanville 3 EPR reactor, a third generation pressurized water reactor, as reported by Reuters.
Energy Business Review 11th July 2017 read more »
[Machine Translation] The government will wait until the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) renders its opinion on the extension of the reactors in the French park at the end of 2018 or early 2019 to rule on the closure of some of them, said Edouard Philippe in an interview with Les Echos. In this interview, the head of government tempered the remarks of his Minister of Ecological Transition, Nicolas Hulot, who had discussed Monday the possibility of closing “maybe up to 17 reactors.” For Nicolas Hulot, these closures must make it possible to meet the goal of reducing the share of nuclear power in the production of electricity by 50% by 2025 – a commitment made by the previous government and reaffirmed by Emmanuel Macron. “What he said is more cautious than what is said to him (…) It is often forgotten in France that it is not the government alone that decides to deal with the Safety Authority Nuclear power, which will pronounce at the end of 2018 at the beginning of 2019 on a whole series of renewals of authorizations and we will wait until the ASN tells us what it is, “declared Edouard Philippe.
Mediapart 11th July 2017 read more »