France looks set to cement nuke ties with China
Source: Bloomberg News |
October 16, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FRANCE, which gets more of its power from atomic plants than any other country, plans to cement nuclear ties with China even as it curtails expansion at home.
A "lasting and balanced" nuclear partnership with China is in France's strategic interest, according to a statement yesterday from the nation's atomic policy advisory committee, headed by French President Francois Hollande.
An alliance would bring together two of the biggest atomic-energy powers as China pursues the world's most ambitious reactor building program. Electricite de France SA, operator of France's 58 reactors, already is developing nuclear plants in China and has said it's in talks with potential Chinese partners on ventures in the UK.
Back home, EDF's European Pressurized Reactor at Flamanville in Normandy, due to begin commercial output in 2016, will be the only reactor to start operating during Hollande's five-year term that ends in 2017, the committee said.
The committee also confirmed Hollande's plan to shut Fessenheim, the country's oldest nuclear plant, by the end of 2016. Half of France's electricity output will come from atomic reactors by about 2025, down from three-quarters now, it said.
France was among countries to conduct a review of its reactor fleet following the Japanese nuclear disaster at Fukushima last year. Its atomic safety regulator ordered EDF to boost defenses at Fessenheim, notwithstanding its imminent halt.
China, which also reviewed safety, intends to build more reactors than any other country. It's constructing 25 on the mainland, with 27 more planned, World Nuclear Association data show.
EDF and Paris-based Areva SA, the biggest supplier of atomic equipment and services, have made exports a focus of their strategies.
France has an "ambition to develop its nuclear sector for export at the highest levels of safety," the committee said.
Hollande's election-campaign promise to lower reliance on nuclear power stems from an agreement with the Green party almost a year ago, which was later watered down by the Socialist contender.
A "lasting and balanced" nuclear partnership with China is in France's strategic interest, according to a statement yesterday from the nation's atomic policy advisory committee, headed by French President Francois Hollande.
An alliance would bring together two of the biggest atomic-energy powers as China pursues the world's most ambitious reactor building program. Electricite de France SA, operator of France's 58 reactors, already is developing nuclear plants in China and has said it's in talks with potential Chinese partners on ventures in the UK.
Back home, EDF's European Pressurized Reactor at Flamanville in Normandy, due to begin commercial output in 2016, will be the only reactor to start operating during Hollande's five-year term that ends in 2017, the committee said.
The committee also confirmed Hollande's plan to shut Fessenheim, the country's oldest nuclear plant, by the end of 2016. Half of France's electricity output will come from atomic reactors by about 2025, down from three-quarters now, it said.
France was among countries to conduct a review of its reactor fleet following the Japanese nuclear disaster at Fukushima last year. Its atomic safety regulator ordered EDF to boost defenses at Fessenheim, notwithstanding its imminent halt.
China, which also reviewed safety, intends to build more reactors than any other country. It's constructing 25 on the mainland, with 27 more planned, World Nuclear Association data show.
EDF and Paris-based Areva SA, the biggest supplier of atomic equipment and services, have made exports a focus of their strategies.
France has an "ambition to develop its nuclear sector for export at the highest levels of safety," the committee said.
Hollande's election-campaign promise to lower reliance on nuclear power stems from an agreement with the Green party almost a year ago, which was later watered down by the Socialist contender.
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