“We imagine a schedule for submitting files around 2023 for commissioning in 2035-2037,” said Secretary of State Bérangère Abba, during a debate.
The new nuclear reactors that France plans to build could be the subject of a filing in 2023, for commissioning “in 2035-2037Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State to the Minister of Ecological Transition, told the Senate on Thursday. It would be “in the short term, of EPR2, an improved model compared to construction experience feedback from previous EPRs», She said during a debate with senators on the safety of the atom.
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“Without being diviners, we imagine a schedule for submitting applications around 2023 for entry into service in 2035-2037. First, EDF submitted the EPR2 safety options to ASN (French nuclear safety authority), which validated the principles. We therefore have a framework and feedback on the first EPRs», She added.
Emmanuel Macron announced in early November that France was preparing to launch the construction of reactors, some twenty years after the last ones were put into service, but he has since given no details on this project. “The President of the Republic announced his intention to accelerate the development of renewable energies while building new nuclear reactors, with details which will be provided shortly on the timetable for debate and definition on these issues.“, Said Bérangère Abba on Thursday.
EDF has already submitted to the State a proposal to build six new generation EPRs (EPR2) for around fifty billion euros. The CEO of EDF estimated Tuesday that it was “urgent” to throw “concrete actions“. “What is most urgent is to launch the dynamic around the construction, in particular of the Penly reactors“, The Seine-Maritime site where the first pair of new EPRs should be built, Jean-Bernard Lévy told journalists.
France is currently only building on its soil a new generation EPR reactor, that of Flamanville (Manche), which has encountered multiple setbacks, a source of delays and budget extensions.
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