France’s environment minister Nicolas Hulot resigned August 28, signalling EDF’s French nuclear plants may operate longer than previously expected. Hulot, a long-term green campaigner and nuclear power sceptic, resigned from his post in a radio interview, citing frustration at the “small steps” being taken to tackle climate change.
On September 4, President Emmanuel Macron appointed Francois de Rugy, previously speaker of France’s lower house, as environment minister.
French state-controlled EDF operates all 58 of France’s nuclear power reactors which provide around three quarters of the nation’s power.
In 2015, France’s previous Socialist government set a target of reducing nuclear power to 50% by 2025. Last November, Macron’s government postponed the target date to around 2030-2035, citing grid needs and carbon reduction restraints. De Rugy supported this move but also backs renewable energy expansion.
EDF is also building its first French EPR reactor at Flamanville and reportedly plans to build further reactors in France in the 2020s.
Nuclear Energy Insider – September 5, 2018.