France to extend life of nuclear reactors beyond 40 years

Feb 12, 2012, 14:18 GMT

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided to extend the life of the country's 58 nuclear reactors beyond 40 years, Industry Minister Eric Besson said Sunday.

France's nuclear reactors were built with a 40-year life span in mind, but the nuclear safety authority can decide, on a case-by-case basis, to extend the life of a reactor.

'The decision has been taken,' Besson said, while acknowledging that the ASN had the final say.

Last month, a state agency that monitors government spending said France had little choice but to extend the life of its nuclear reactors if it wanted to maintain energy production at current levels.

To replace the 22 plants that will hit the 40 mark within the next decade would require a massive investment, equivalent to 11 new-generation reactors, the Court of Audit pointed out.

National electricity utility EDF wants the plants to be allowed operate for up to 60 years. In the United States, nuclear plants are licensed for 40 years but can be extended for a further 20.

EDF says to extend the life of a reactor would cost between 680 million euros (896 million dollars) and 860 million euros, a fraction of the cost of building a new reactor.

France gets three-quarters of its electricity from nuclear plants.

A number of European countries, including Germany, pulled the plug on nuclear power in the wake of last year's nuclear disaster in Japan but Sarkozy remains a staunch champion of atomic energy.

France is building two new-generation EPR reactors, one in Finland and one in France. Besson said France also planned to develop a mid-sized 1,000-megawatt reactor with China and Russia.

The role of nuclear power in the energy mix is a subject of debate in this year's presidential campaign.

Sarkozy's main challenger, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, has pledged to reduce the share of nuclear in the energy mix to 50 per cent by 2025.

The government has slammed the proposal, saying it would compromise the country's energy independence, cause massive job losses and drive up the price of electricity.