Nuclear energy
France will build new nuclear reactors to help the country lessen its dependence on foreign countries for its energy supplies, meet global warming targets and keep prices under control, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
With concerns over purchasing power topping opinion polls five months before the presidential election, at a time of soaring energy prices, Macron said the decision to go for new reactors was essential to keep prices reasonable.
“We are going, for the first time in decades, to relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors in our country and continue to develop renewable energies,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation.
As Europe grapples with steep increases in energy prices, France is taking a different path from neighbours like Germany.
Germany responded to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan by accelerating its national exit scheme for reactors.
Macron gave no details, but his government is expected to announce the construction of up to six new pressurized-water reactors within the coming weeks.
