The new nuclear reactors that France plans to build could be the subject of a filing in 2023, for commissioning "
in 2035-2037
", said Thursday in the Senate Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological Transition.
It would be "
in the short term, EPR2, an improved model compared to the feedback from the construction of previous EPRs
", she said during a debate with senators on safety. of the atom.
Read alsoThe Belgian government closes the door to nuclear power
“
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 had announced in early November that France was preparing to launch the construction of reactors, twenty years after the commissioning of the last, but he has since given no details on this project. "
The President of the Republic has announced his intention to accelerate the development of renewable energies while building new nuclear reactors, with details to be provided shortly on the timetable for debate and definition on these issues
," Bérangère said. Abba 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 said Tuesday that it was "
urgent
" to launch "
concrete actions
".
“
The most urgent thing is to launch the dynamic around the construction 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.
