France’s state utility and nuclear operator EDF has implemented an emergency plan that will make it possible to operate nuclear plants even if 40% of staff are absent during the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic.The nuclear society SFEN said the “business continuity plan” had been implemented on 16 March in all power plants in France. It is the same plan that was used plan when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus was identified in 2003 and during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic.SFEN said the plan makes it possible to cope with 40% absenteeism for two to three weeks, a period corresponding to the pandemic peak, and 25% absenteeism for 12 weeks.