France needs a "
significant
" number of nuclear reactors, said Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday, while the country is preparing to relaunch a construction program whose outlines have yet to be clarified.
"
If we want to reindustrialize the country, to have a real industrial reconquest, which is at the heart of our ambition with the President of the Republic, we need a significant number of nuclear reactors
", replied the minister to journalists on the sidelines of the opening of the World Nuclear Exhibition near Paris.
Read alsoNuclear: global competition is raging in the market for small reactors
"
The President of the Republic will determine the number of reactors necessary, but reindustrialize and decarbonize, that means more nuclear reactors to produce more electricity which will be used for the decarbonization of large industrial sites
," he continued.
France, one of the most nuclear-powered countries in the world, is in fact preparing to build new reactors on its soil, twenty years after the commissioning of the last ones, announced President Emmanuel Macron on November 9. .
Nuclear power in the "green taxonomy"
Bruno Le Maire also indicated that nuclear
energy
should be "
registered in the coming days
" in the
European "
green taxonomy
", a list of energies considered virtuous for the climate and the environment. This classification will open access to green finance, giving a crucial competitive advantage to recognized sectors. "
It would be inconceivable and irresponsible for nuclear energy not to be recognized as low-carbon energy in European taxonomy
" and "
we are going to win this fight
", assured the minister.
"
This is one of the topics of discussion that we have with the new German government, I am convinced that we can reach a compromise with Germany on this subject so that, in the days to come, nuclear power is written in full. in European taxonomy,
”he said.
Read alsoHow Macron wants to bring out nuclear start-ups
The inclusion of nuclear power opposes European countries, divided between France and Central European countries on the one hand and Germany, Austria and Luxembourg on the other.
Berlin, however, opened the way to a compromise in mid-October.
