In a statement reacting to Mr Macron’s pledge, Ms Arbouille said the UN’s Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow has reminded everyone of the climate emergency and with his announcement Mr Macron has reaffirmed the essential role of nuclear, a source of carbon-free energy, in the fight against global warming.
She said the industry is eager to know the details of Mr Macron’s plans and “the commitment of a real programme with the announcement of a series of EPR2 reactors”.
Mr Macron said in a televised address to the nation that he will revive the French nuclear programme with the construction of new EPR2 nuclear reactors in the coming years.
“We will for the first time in decades restart the construction of nuclear reactors in our country and continue to develop renewable energy,” he said. Mr Macron said nuclear will help the country lessen its dependence on foreign countries for its energy supplies, meet global warming targets and keep prices under control.
The announcement follows a report by French grid operator RTE which said next generation nuclear reactors offer an affordable path to shifting the country’s energy mix away from fossil fuels and make the aim of carbon neutrality by 2050 achievable.
Previously, the government had said it would not launch any new EPR reactor projects until state-owned EDF’s delayed Flamanville-3 EPR is completed.
But French media in October reported that the impact of Europe’s gas crisis on energy prices, and the knock-on effect on household spending power, had accelerated Paris’s decision to commit to the new EPR technology.
France has 56 commercial nuclear power reactors that provide about 70% of its electricity, the highest share of any country.
Last month Mr Macron said that by 2030 France must be a leader in carbon-free power production with one small modular reactor in operation and nuclear plants used to produce clean hydrogen through electrolysis.
He said Europe will never have enough renewable energy capacity to produce sufficient green hydrogen and that France’s nuclear plants are a major asset for doing this.
The chairman of state utility and nuclear operator EDF, Jean-Bernard Lévy, said in an interview for Politico that the deployment of six new EPR units between 2035 and 2045 would help France meet its climate neutrality targets while supporting the accelerated development of renewables.
According to Gifen, the nuclear industry is France’s third largest industrial sector, with 3,200 companies and 220,000 employees, and “is now ready to respond to the presidential commitment”.
“The French nuclear industry is now ready to build these EPR2 reactors, which will create many qualified jobs, multiply innovations and once again have this French industrial know-how recognised around the world, Ms Arbouille said.
