The provisional cost estimate for EDF’s programme to build six new-generation EPR2 nuclear reactors at the Penly, Gravelines and Bugey sites in France is €72.8bn ($85.4bn), the company told its board of directors on 18 December.

The French state power company said in a statement the provisional budget will be audited in the first quarter of 2026 by the Interministerial Delegation for New Nuclear Energy, a government body established to oversee and coordinate the nation’s ambitious nuclear new-build plans, especially the EPR2 reactor programme.