Nuclear power in France
Since the mid-1980s, the largest source of electricity in France has been nuclear power, with a generation of 379.5 TWh in 2019 and a total electricity production of. In 2018, the nuclear share was 71.67%, the highest percentage in the world.
Since June 2020, it has 56 operable reactors totalling 61,370 MWe, one under construction, and 14 shut down or in decommissioning. In May 2022, EDF reported that twelve reactors were shut down and being inspected for stress corrosion, requiring EDF to adjust its French nuclear output estimate for 2022 to 280–300 TWh; the estimate of the impact of the decrease in output on the Group's EBITDA for 2022 was assessed to be billion.
Électricité de France the country's main electricity generation and distribution company – manages the country's 56 power reactors. EDF is fully owned by the French government.
Nuclear power was introduced in large quantities in France following the 1973 oil crisis according to the Messmer plan named for then prime minister Pierre Messmer. This was based on projections that large amounts of electric power would be required. Hindsight showed that too much nuclear power capacity was installed, and this led to relatively low production a low average load factor of 61% by 1988 due to load following generation, and high electricity exports. France exported of electricity to its neighbours in 2017. However, the country still becomes a net importer of electricity when demand exceeds supply, such as in cases of very inclement weather, as in February 2012 when a cold snap, combined with French reliance on electric heating, led it to import large amounts of electricity from Germany.
As of December 2023, according to data from Ember and the Energy Institute as processed by Our World in Data, France generates roughly two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear power, well above the global average of just under 10%. This heavy reliance on nuclear energy allows France to have one of the lowest carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity in the world at 85 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour, compared to the global average of 438 grams.
History
France has a long relationship with nuclear power, starting with Henri Becquerel's discovery of natural radioactivity in the 1890s and continued by famous nuclear scientists such as Pierre and Marie Skłodowska Curie.Before World War II, France had been mainly involved in nuclear research through the work of the Joliot-Curies. In 1945 the Provisional Government of the French Republic created the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique governmental agency, and Nobel prize winner Frédéric Joliot-Curie, member of the French Communist Party since 1942, was appointed high commissioner. He was relieved of his duties in 1950 for political reasons contingent upon the Cold War, and later was one of the 11 signatories to the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in 1955. The CEA was created by Charles de Gaulle on 18 October 1945. Its mandate is to conduct fundamental and applied research into many areas, including the design of nuclear reactors, the manufacturing of integrated circuits, the use of radionuclides for medical treatments, seismology and tsunami propagation, and the safety of computerized systems.
Nuclear research was discontinued for a time after the war, owing to the instability of the Fourth Republic and the lack of finances available. However, in the 1950s a civil nuclear research program was started, a by-product of which was plutonium. A secret Committee for the Military Applications of Atomic Energy was formed in 1956, and a development program for delivery vehicles started. In 1957, soon after the Suez Crisis and the diplomatic tension with both the USSR and the United States, French president René Coty decided on the creation of the C.S.E.M. in what was then French Sahara, a new nuclear testing facility replacing the CIEES testing facility. See France and nuclear weapons.
The first nuclear power plants in France were three UNGG reactors at the Marcoule Nuclear Site between 1956 and 1960, followed by the Chinon reactors in Avoine from 1962.
Messmer Plan
As a direct result of the 1973 oil crisis, on 6 March 1974 Prime Minister Pierre Messmer announced what became known as the 'Messmer Plan', a hugely ambitious nuclear power program aimed at generating most of France's electricity from nuclear power. At the time of the oil crisis most of France's electricity came from foreign oil. Nuclear power allowed France to compensate for its lack of indigenous energy resources by applying its strengths in heavy engineering. The situation was summarized in a slogan: "In France, we do not have oil, but we have ideas."The announcement of the Messmer Plan was enacted without public or parliamentary debate. Concern over the government's action spread among the scientific community of France. The lack of consultation outside of political realms regarding the plan led to the formation of the Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire. 4,000 scientists signed a petition as a response, known as the Appeal of the 400 after the 400 scientists who initially signed it.
The reason that the Messmer Plan was enacted without public or parliamentary debate was that there was no tradition to do that with highly-technological and strategically-important decisions in the governments of France and the parliament did not have a scientific commission with sufficient technical means to handle such scientific and strategic decisions, just like the public does not have such means. France does not have any procedure of public inquiries to allow the assessment of major technological programmes. The plan envisaged the construction of around 80 nuclear plants by 1985 and a total of 170 plants by 2000. Work on the first three plants, at Tricastin, Gravelines, and Dampierre, started the same year and France installed 56 reactors over the next 15 years.
However by the mid 1980s it became clear that the Messmer plan had been overambitious. Nuclear power plants achieve their optimum economic value when run flat out, and the projected demand had not materialized. By 1988 France's nuclear power plants had a capacity factor of only around 60%, whereas other countries that had not invested in nuclear power so heavily were nearer 80–90%. Still, the goal of replacing imported fossil fuels in electricity generation was mostly met.
Developments 2011–2022
Following the 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents, the head of France's nuclear safety agency said that France needed to upgrade the protection of vital functions in all its nuclear reactors to avoid a disaster in the event of a natural calamity, adding there was no need to close any plants. "There is a need to add a layer to protect safety mechanisms in reactors that are vital for the protection of the reactor such as cooling functions and electric powering", Jacques Repussard, head of the IRSN, said. Opinion polls showed support for atomic energy had dropped since Fukushima. Forty percent of the French "are 'hesitant' about nuclear energy while a third are in favor and 17 percent are against, according to a survey by pollster Ifop published November 13".In February 2012, President Sarkozy decided to extend the life of existing nuclear reactors beyond 40 years, following the Court of Audit decision that that would be the best option, for new nuclear capacity or other forms of energy would be more costly and available too late. Within ten years, 22 out of the 58 reactors will have been operating for over 40 years. The court expects EDF's projected investment programme in existing plant, including post Fukushima safety improvements, will add between 9.5% and 14.5% to generation costs, taking costs to between 37.9 and. Generation costs from the new Flamanville European Pressurized Reactor are estimated to be at least in the 70-to-90 EUR/MWh range, depending on construction outcome. Academics at Paris Dauphine University forecast that domestic electricity prices would rise by about 30% by 2020.
Following François Hollande's victory in the 2012 presidential election, it was thought that there might be a partial nuclear phaseout in France. This followed a national debate in the run-up to the election, with President Nicolas Sarkozy backing nuclear power and François Hollande proposing a cut in nuclear power's electricity contribution by more than a third by 2025. It seemed certain that Hollande would at least order the closure of the Fessenheim Nuclear Power Plant by 2017 where there has been an ongoing closure campaign due to concerns about seismic activity and flooding.
Active efforts by the French government to market the EPR have been hampered by cost overruns, delays, and competition from other nations, such as South Korea, which offer simpler, cheaper reactors.
In 2015, the National Assembly voted that by 2025 only 50% of France's energy will be produced by nuclear plants. Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot noted in November 2017 that this goal is unrealistic, postponing the reduction to 2030 or 2035.
In 2016, following a discovery at Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant, about 400 large steel forgings manufactured by Le Creusot Forge since 1965 were found to have carbon-content irregularities that weakened the steel. A widespread programme of reactor checks was started involving a progressive programme of reactor shutdowns, continued over the winter high electricity demand period into 2017. This caused power price increases in Europe as France increased electricity imports, especially from Germany, to augment supply. As of late October 2016, 20 of France's 58 reactors were offline. These steel quality concerns may prevent the regulator giving the life extensions from 40 to 50 years, that had been assumed by energy planners, for many reactors. In December 2016, the Wall Street Journal characterised the problem as a "decades long coverup of manufacturing problems", with Areva executives acknowledging that Le Creusot had been falsifying documents. The Le Creusot forge was out of operation from December 2015 to January 2018 while improvements to process controls, the quality management system, organisation and safety culture were made.
In November 2018, President Macron announced the 50% nuclear power reduction target is being delayed to 2035, and would involve closing fourteen reactors. The two oldest reactors, units 1 and 2 at Fessenheim, were closed in 2020. EDF is planning an investment programme, called Grand Carénage, to extend reactor lifespans to 50 years, to be largely completed by 2025.
In 2020, Energy Minister Élisabeth Borne announced the government would not decide on the construction of any new reactors until Flamanville 3 started operation after 2022. In October 2021, Macron announced plans for France to become a leader in low-carbon energy production using small modular reactors and green hydrogen. In October 2021, French grid operator RTE plans for construction of six new EPR reactors so that by 2050, France maintains 50 GW in low-carbon nuclear power. This has been described as the fastest and most certain path to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In January 2022, junior environment minister Bérangère Abba said that plans for new nuclear EPR 2 reactors, to be operational between 2035 and 2037, should be submitted around 2023. The decision was accelerated by the impact of 2021 global energy crisis. In February 2022, Macron added that the plan includes the construction of 14 new large nuclear reactors and the extension of life of existing reactors deemed safe and suitable beyond 50 years.
On 3 September 2022, amid energy uncertainties arising from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Energy Transition Minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, announced that EDF was committed to restarting all reactors in the coming winter.
In 2023, during a presidential visit to China, France renewed a nuclear co-operation agreement with China, and EDF renewed its 2007 partnership contract with China General Nuclear Power Group which includes development, construction and operation of nuclear plants.