During his speech, he noted the need to increase the country's energy sovereignty and spoke about plans to develop new generation reactors - EPR-2.
"Given the growing demand for electricity and changes in the fleet of nuclear power plant reactors whose service life cannot be extended, we are launching a new nuclear reactor program from today,” he said. “I want six EPR-2 reactors to be built and that we would build eight additional EPR-2s in the future. We plan to start construction by 2028 and put the first reactor in operation by 2035."
In addition to the EPR reactors, Macron also pledged €1 billion in support for small modular reactor (SMR) projects and "innovative reactors that will produce less waste."
The goal is to build the first prototype in France by 2030 and achieve additional power generation at nuclear power plants by 2050, including with the participation of EPR reactors. At the same time, the head of state opposed the shutdown of old reactors in France and announced the decision to extend their life as much as possible, but not to the detriment of overall safety.
According to Macron, the development of nuclear energy in combination with renewable energy sources is urgently needed in the face of reducing the carbon footprint of the industry. Among other challenges, he listed the phasing out of gas and oil as energy sources over the next 30 years and the shift from combustion-engine cars to electric vehicles. "The world is becoming more and more electric," he explained.
