French President Macron Announces Construction of New Nuclear Reactors, First in Decades

Some comments made by the president of France, Immanuel Macron in a televised address to his country on Tuesday, November 9th.

“To guarantee the electrical supply of our country, and to achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality by 2050, 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,”

“If we want to pay for our energy at reasonable rates and not depend on foreign countries, we must both continue to save energy and invest in the production of carbon-free energy on our soil,”

“These investments will allow us to step up and meet our commitments as the COP26 in Glasgow closes,”

Macron provided no further details in this announcement, but earlier this year, the French energy company EDF had submitted a feasibility study for a program to build six new reactors.

France had previously stated that they would build no further reactors until the completion of one in Flamanville in Northern France, but it seems that the current European energy crisis has prompted a change in plans.