The opening of the European Pressurized Reactor in Flamanville comes 12 years late on the initial schedule.

Summary

France’s Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor, its most powerful at 1,600 MW, was connected to the grid on December 21 after 17 years of construction plagued by delays and budget overruns.

The European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), designed to boost nuclear energy post-Chernobyl, is 12 years behind schedule and cost €13.2 billion, quadruple initial estimates.

President Macron hailed the launch as a key step for low-carbon energy and energy security.

Nuclear power, which supplies 60% of France’s electricity, is central to Macron’s plan for a “nuclear renaissance.”

    • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      7·
      1 day ago

      Thing is there’s only four manufacturers of reactors in Europe:

      • French/Japanese Framatome
      • Italian/Chinese Ansaldo Energia
      • Czech/Korean Doosan Skoda
      • German/Russian Nukem

      The 44% Chinese part of Ansaldo and the 100% Russian ownership of Nukem is probably not doing either company any favors. That leaves you with Doosan Skoda and Framatome. Considering a nuclear reactor project isn’t build in less than a decade, and given the choice between a company that has built several modern reactors and a company that is first in line for a visit from dear old uncle Vlad and haven’t commissioned a reactor in 22 years, I’d say that the French is the best bet.

      So that the French built the reactor is only logical. That it got delayed to the extreme, that’s just what happens when you don’t buy a reactor of the rack.

    • Valmond@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      2 days ago

      All nuclear plants get over budget or the political party doesn’t seem to make the budget accepted.