The French Ministry of Energy announced Wednesday that the government had agreed to compensate state-owned utility Electricite de France (EDF) for the closure of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, which is the country's oldest and has been under political and pressure aimed at shutting the plant down.
Construction of the two pressurized water reactors at Fessenheim was begun in 1970 with the plant commissioned seven years later, in 1977. But there have been recent calls for operators to re-evaluate and upgrade the plant based on higher seismic standards, which were raised by a local Oversight Commission in the wake of the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear generating station in Japan. It was originally built to withstand seismic activity at magnitude of 6.7. New standards call for the plant to withstand a 7.2 magnitude seismic disturbance.
In addition, the Fessenheim plant is situated in northeastern France, less than a mile from the border with Germany and about 25 miles from the Swiss border.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is running for a return to office, has said he would not seek to close the Fessenheim plant, but current President Francois Holland, in office since 2012, has taken the opposite position.
The ministry said Wednesday that the government would pay EDF in tranches, with the first payment of $100 million euros or $114 million. The total package is expected to be approximately four times that, although media reports say that the value of the compensation can shift, depending on fluctuations in the wholesale price of electricity.
In the post-Fukushima Daiichi era, France has re-evaluated its stance on nuclear power and is aiming to reduce its share of the country's energy generation mix from the current level of 70 percent to 50 percent.