France to Build Planned Six Nuclear Plants
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
France is set to build eight new nuclear plants on top of six already announced, the energy minister has said, arguing more reactors are needed to hit carbon reduction targets.
A draft law set to be presented soon recognizes that “we will need nuclear power beyond the six first European Pressurised Reactors” (EPRs) announced by President Emmanuel Macron in early 2022, Agnes Pannier-Runacher said on Sunday.
The bill will include a further eight plants that had until now been discussed as an “option” by the government, Pannier-Runacher said.
By contrast, the text would not include any targets for renewable energy generation by 2030, remaining “technologically neutral,” she added.
France is on the lower end of greenhouse gas emissions in the 27-nation European Union, at around 4.7 tonnes per capita in 2020, according to data from Climate Watch.
This is in part thanks to its fleet of 57 nuclear reactors built from the 1970s — some of which required long and costly repairs in recent years.
France aims to reduce fossil fuels’ share of energy use from more than 60 percent now to 40 percent in 2035, which would require “further construction equivalent to 13 gigawatts” of energy from 2026, Pannier-Runacher said.
