EDF has filed an application to build the first pair of EPR2 nuclear power plants on the Penly site near Dieppe in northern France – a key step in ambitious plans put forward by president Emmanuel Macron to relaunch the country’s reactor construction programme.

The state nuclear operator said in a statement that it is “engaged in the authorisation procedures required for the launch of the construction of the first pair of EPR2 reactors at Penly, as well as the administrative procedures for its completion and its link-up to the electricity grid”.

The company said its target is to start preparatory work mid-2024. It said the EDF board had decided to proceed with planned construction at Penly – site of two existing nuclear plants that began operation in 1990 and 1992 – in response to opinions put forward in a public consultation between October 2022 and February 2023.