Strategia energetica della Francia in Parlamento M, 14 Nuovo reattore EPR ratificato + Reattore di 4a generazione: voto MPS per un enorme risveglio nucleare

The text provides for an additional 27 gigawatts of capacity “by 2050”.

On Wednesday, French MPs approved a massive revival of nuclear power, adopting a key article of a bill on France’s energy future.

An amendment by the text’s rapporteur, Antoine Armand (Renaissance), was adopted with the support of the Rassemblement National. It reinstates this key article on nuclear power, which had been deleted in the confusion in committee.

“We’re signing up to a relaunch with unprecedented ambition: maintaining the existing fleet, building 14 EPRs, and deciding on a 4th-generation reactor,” Mr. Armand told AFP.

France currently has an installed nuclear power generation capacity of 63 gigawatts.

The text, on which a formal vote is scheduled for Wednesday, calls for this capacity to be increased by a further 27 gigawatts “by 2050”.

Decree “before the end of the summer”.

Nuclear power is “the most decarbonized, the most controllable, the most sovereign and financially the most sustainable”, argued Jérôme Nury (LR).

For its part, the PS had proposed to commit to the construction of 8 reactors by 2035, with additional targets deferred until a later date. A compromise “swept aside” by the rapporteur, regretted PS deputy Karim Benbrahim.

Senator Daniel Gremillet’s bill, which has already passed its first reading in the upper house, is intended to inspire the decree setting out the country’s energy roadmap to 2035. It should put the country on the road to carbon neutrality by 2050.

By threatening to censure the government, the Rassemblement National had managed to get the matter debated in the Assembly before the decree was published.

However, Marc Ferracci announced that the government wanted to publish the decree “before the end of the summer”, i.e. before the end of the parliamentary shuttle of the text, in order to “launch investments”.

Where in the law making process is that?

If it is adopted, is it already a law with financing earmarked or just a call onto macron to put a plan into action?

BTW. In 2023 France (with others) pledged at COP28 to triple nuclear capacity by 2050. So not even +50% of existing capacity minus any retirements isn’t that much too little?

My biggest problem with nuclear power is that the costs are often simply not transparent.

There are the construction costs which are often subsidised and often increase to 2-3x+ over the years. (Afaik the last constructed nuclear power plants in china/russia had cost 4-5 more then planned)

Then there is the electricity which is guaranteed by the state at a fixed/min price (Subsidising the price of electricity).
And then the disposal/storage of the waste that is again paid by the population.

On the other hand series production can reduce costs considerably. Therefore maybe the propsed strategy can be for france be the right one?

How they plan to finance this and increasing defence budget to 5%?