France - World Nuclear Performance Report

France has 56 operable reactors with a total capacity of 61.4 GWe at a variety of coastal and inland sites. An EPR is under construction at the Flamanville plant in Normandy on the northwest coast.

In March 2023 France’s parliament formally approved the government’s nuclear investment plan to construct six EPR2 units at three sites at an estimated cost of €52 billion. In June 2023 EDF announced that it was seeking
the necessary authorizations to construct two EPR2 reactors at the Penly nuclear plant in Normandy. In July it was announced that the Bugey plant in eastern France would host the third pair of EPR2 units, with the second
pair to be constructed at Gravelines on the north coast.

France’s nuclear regulator authorized commissioning of Flamanville 3 in May 2024. Fuel loading was completed in May 2024 and the unit is targeting startup in summer 2024. In August 2023 Tricastin 1 was approved to operate for a further ten years. It is the first French power reactor licensed to operate beyond 40 years.

EDF has set a production target for its fleet of 315-345 TWh for 2024. The company said in April 2024 that problems linked to stress corrosion, first discovered at Civaux 1 in December 2021, will continue to weigh on
output until the end of 2025.

Electricity production by age of reactor