In a speech Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was committed to nuclear research and new plant construction, including a third reactor for the Penly plant in Normandy.
While his opponents in the Socialist and Green parties recently resolved to decommission 24 of France’s 58 reactors, Reuters quoted Sarkozy as saying that doing so would cost the country 5 billion euros per year.
Further, nuclear technology is a major export in France, and Areva is making the case for construction of its third-generation EPR pressurized water reactor design in countries like China and India. As such, he said it was even more important to approve construction of a 1,650 megawatt EPR at the Penly plant. Bloomberg also reported that Sarkozy supports spending 1 billion euros for reactor research.