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Agence France-Presse

France on Saturday connected its most powerful nuclear power reactor to the national electricity grid in what leaders hailed as a landmark moment despite years of delays and technical setbacks.
The Flamanville 3 European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes at 11.48am on Saturday, the EDF power company’s CEO Luc Remont said in a statement.
“Great moment for the country,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on X, calling it “one of the world’s most powerful nuclear reactors”.
“Re-industrialising to produce low-carbon energy is ecology French style,” he added.
The EPR, a new generation pressurised water reactor, is the fourth to be finished anywhere in the world.
Remont of EDF called the event “historic”.
“The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2,” he said, referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France.


The connection was initially scheduled to take place on Friday.
It is the most powerful reactor in the country at 1,600MW. Ultimately, it should supply electricity to upwards of two million homes.
The start-up comes 12 years late after a plethora of technical setbacks which saw the cost of the project soar to an estimated €13.2 billion (US$13.76 billion), four times the initial €3.3 billion estimate.
The start-up began on September 3, but had to be interrupted the following day due to an “automatic shutdown”. It resumed a few days later.
Generation has been gradually increased to allow the reactor to be connected to the electricity network.
Nuclear power accounts for around three fifths of French energy output and the country boasts one of the globe’s largest nuclear power programmes.
That is in stark contrast to neighbouring Germany, which exited nuclear power last year by shutting down the last three of its reactors.
Macron has decided to ramp up nuclear power to bolster French energy sustainability by ordering six EPR2 reactors and laying options for eight more, that could cost tens of billions of euros.


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France

A worker walks past a reactor building at the third-generation European Pressurised Reactor project nuclear reactor of Flamanville, Normandy. Photo: AFP

France’s President Emmanuel Macron embraces a woman during his visit to Mayotte following the cyclone. Photo: AFP

France’s President Emmanuel Macron in a helicopter. Photo: AFP

French soldiers clear a road. Photo: Etat-major des armees via Reuters

Food and other supplies being unloaded from the French presidential plane. Photo: AFP

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French artist Claire Tabouret in Paris on Wednesday after winning with Atelier Simon-Marq the selection to create new stained glass windows for the Notre Dame cathedral. Photo: AFP

Sketches made by Claire Tabouret are displayed at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday after she and Atelier Simon-Marq were selected to create new stained glass windows for the Notre Dame cathedral. Photo: AFP

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A wind farm near Great Wilbraham, Britain. Photo: EPA-EFE

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A police officer guards a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday. Photo: AP

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and ministers visit the site of a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg. Photo: AFP

Emergency service workers attend to a victim after a car drove into a group of people at the Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday. Photo: dpa

Security forces members stand guard at the entrance of the Christmas market in Magdeburg. Photo: AFP

The Christmas market in Magdeburg was cordoned off after a car drove into a group of people on Friday. Photo: dpa

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Europe

The delay arose from technical setbacks that saw the cost of the project balloon four times from the original estimate


The delay arose from technical setbacks that saw the cost of the project balloon four times from the original estimate.
