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Macron wants to build new nuclear power plants - to fight climate change

2021-11-10T14:56:02.229Z


French President Emmanuel Macron wants to build new nuclear power plants. Among other things, this is necessary for energy independence.


French President Emmanuel Macron wants to build new nuclear power plants.

Among other things, this is necessary for energy independence.

Paris - French President Emmanuel Macron * has announced the construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants.

The French President emphasized in a televised address that this is how they want to combat climate change and ensure a reliable energy supply.

France * has been using nuclear energy for a long time.

There are currently 56 reactors in operation, while the latest decision is expected to keep that number growing.

France: Macron wants nuclear energy for independence and carbon neutrality

Despite the expansion of nuclear energy, France does not want to push renewable energies into the background.

In addition to the construction of nuclear reactors, the development of renewable energies should also be continued, Macron emphasized at his appearance on Tuesday evening.

He said in the TV address: "In order to guarantee France's energy independence, secure our country's electricity supply and achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, we will start building nuclear reactors in our country again for the first time in decades."

Macron argues that without nuclear power, France and the EU cannot become climate neutral by 2050 as planned.

Through intensive negotiations, he wants to have already convinced a majority of the EU states * that nuclear power should be part of the so-called taxonomy.

Macron says new reactors will enable COP26 compliance

For reasonable energy prices, carbon-free energy is necessary, Macron said in his address.

The new reactors are said to be third-generation EPR (Evolutionary Power Reactor) reactors - so-called pressurized water reactors.

Macron did not initially announce how many of these reactors should be built, but according to the

Reuters

news

agency

, the construction of up to six reactors is expected.

According to the French President, investing in new nuclear power plants will make it easier to meet the obligations of the UN Climate Change Conference * in Glasgow.

A few weeks ago he announced his intention to create smaller reactors by 2030, which should also make it easier to deal with nuclear waste.

France relies on nuclear energy - despite the catastrophe in Japan

Unlike Germany, France continued to rely on nuclear energy after the disaster in Fukushima, Japan in 2011.

The country's oldest nuclear power plant in Fessenheim, Alsace, was shut down last year, and further reactor units are to be taken off the grid by 2035.

However, France is currently still in second place behind the USA among the world's largest producers of nuclear power.

According to a study by the network operator RTE, CO2-neutral electricity operation without new nuclear power plants would only be possible with enormous efforts by 2050.

Excessive costs and technical problems have recently hampered the expansion of nuclear power by the state energy company EDF.

An operating license was recently issued for a controversial nuclear reactor in Flamanville on the English Channel, construction of which began in 2007.

Commissioning was last postponed to the end of 2022 - also because leaky welds were discovered in the steel shell.

Instead of the originally estimated 3.3 billion, the costs are now probably more than twelve billion euros.

(bb with material from dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN-MEDIA

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-11-10

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