French Utility Giant to Announce Site of New Nuclear Plant

    Oct. 22, 2004
    French utility giant EDF was to announce the site for the construction of a prototype for a new generation of nuclear power plants

    Source AP WorldStream English (all) via NewsEdge Corporation

    PARIS -- French utility giant EDF was to announce the site for the construction of a prototype for a new generation of nuclear power plants, ending a two-year search for a location. Le Figaro newspaper reported the demonstration plant will be located in Flamanville, a town in lower Normandy on the Atlantic coast, already the location of a nuclear power plant.

    Officials hope to limit opposition to the new plant by locating it near an existing one, the newspaper reported.

    The project has drawn protests from those opposed to government plans to replace aging nuclear plants with a new generation of reactors, the European Pressurized Water Reactor, or EPR.

    France's 58 nuclear reactors produce 78.2 percent of the country's electricity. However, about 30 of the reactors will be between 40 and 50 years old by 2020 and in need of replacement.

    Construction of the EPR model is expected to take eight years. If acceptable, a series of EPR plants could be built and put into service by 2020.

    The new generation reactors are being designed by Electricite de France, France's state-run utility company, with several other French and German firms.