An initial decree of 10 April 2007 set a 10-year deadline and a second, published in March 2017, extended the construction period to 13 years, or the spring of 2020.
Construction of a single Generation III 1,600-MW EPR began in 2007 at the site of an existing nuclear station at Flamanville in Normandy. Initial completion was scheduled for 2012, but the project encountered a series of delays and related cost overruns.
According to the latest reports, fuel loading at the plant is now expected to happen by the end of 2022.
Last month EDF announced that hot functional testing had been completed for the reactor systems.
In October 2019 French state-controlled utility EDF said the estimated cost of Flamanville-3 had increased by €1.5bn because of the need for repairs of faulty welds.
EDF said in a statement that its latest estimate for construction costs at Flamanville was €12.4bn.
There are five EPR projects in different countries: Flamanville-3 in France, Olkiluoto-3 in Finland, Hinkley Point C in the UK – where two EPRs are being built – and Taishan-1 and -2 in Guangdong province, southern China. Taishan-1 began commercial operation in December 2018 and Taishan-2 in September 2019.
