France delays nuclear power targets to focus on CO2 reduction
The French government has postponed a target to reduce the share of nuclear energy in the country’s power production to 50% by 2025 after grid operator RTE said it risked supply shortages after 2020 and could miss a goal to curb carbon emissions. France currently relies on nuclear power for 75% of its power output. Its nuclear reduction target will likely be pushed back to between 2030 and 2035.
France to review nuclear reduction target

07 November 2017

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The French government will come up with a more "realistic" target to reduce the share of nuclear energy in the country's electricity generation, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot told a news conference in Paris today.

The previous government of Francois Hollande in 2015 established an energy transition law which set a target of reducing the share of nuclear in the power mix to 50% by 2025 from the current 75%.

Hulot told reporters today that this is not realistic, but he did not set a new deadline.

"We will reduce the share of nuclear in the mix as soon as possible," he said, adding that doing so in a hurry would increase France's CO2 emissions and could endanger the security of power supply and put jobs at risk, according to Reuters.

Hulot also said that the Fessenheim nuclear plant, France's oldest, would be closed during President Emmanuel Macron's five-year term.

Elected in May, Macron had promised to respect Hollande's target and Hulot had said in July France might have to close as many as 17 of its 58 reactors by 2025 to achieve it.

State-owned utility EDF, which operates France's nuclear power plants, has argued instead to extend the operation of its nuclear fleet from 40 to at least 50 years.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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