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France wants to extend its nuclear umbrella to Europe. But is Macron ready to trade Paris for Helsinki?

Bulletin By Carine Guerout, Jason Moyer | May 10, 2024

Europe’s reliance on US nuclear weapons has been at the heart of the transatlantic security relationship, and so has been the protection that the old continent gets from being part of the NATO alliance and its powerful Article 5. Now, the debate about nuclear deterrence for the European Union is back at the forefront, in part due to the prospects of a reticent United States under a possible second Trump presidency and a resurgent Russia increasingly threatening to use nuclear weapons.

NATO, as a nuclear alliance, relies heavily on US nuclear warheads stationed in Europe for its deterrence. The United Kingdom and France are Europe’s only nuclear powers: Although part of NATO, they maintain independent control over their own nuclear arsenals. In the past, the European Union has been reluctant—or incapable—of providing nuclear deterrence. But the uncertain security environment in Europe has recently led the Union to strengthen its previously neglected security pillar—and, with it, caused some political leaders to become more vocal about nuclear weapons.

In recent weeks, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, in his classic disrupting style, has openly called for debate in Europe over using his country’s nuclear capabilities to defend the continent. In Macron’s view the uncertainty over future US engagement in Europe is forcing the European Union to decide whether it needs a nuclear deterrent of its own—and suggests France may help with this. But it is not clear whether France would be willing—and capable—of extending its nuclear umbrella to the rest of the Union. For this to happen, France would need to address multiple issues, starting with explaining whether it would retain full decision-making over its arsenal, exploring the limitations of its current stockpile of nuclear weapons, and weighing the impact such a decision would have on NATO and its relations with the United States and its fellow EU member states.

Macron’s insistence. Since the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2020‚—popularly known as “Brexit”—France has become the Union’s only country with nuclear weapons. France possesses approximately 290 nuclear weapons (the world’s fourth arsenal in terms of stockpiles warheads behind Russia, the United States, and China). Ever since French President Charles de Gaulle’s famous questioning of US nuclear assurances in 1961— which led France to develop its own nuclear deterrence force—France has historically seen itself as an independent force counterbalancing that of the United States in Europe. This spirit persists today: France still does not participate in NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group and remains one of the Western allies most in favor of nuclear deterrence. France’s independent deterrence strengthens NATO overall because it complicates the calculus of adversaries. Although nuclear deterrence has been a cornerstone of NATO’s deterrence posture, the same cannot be said of the European Union: Many member states remain uncertain about the role of nuclear weapons in defense planning.

The debate over the nuclear readiness of the EU is not new. Traditionally, the holdout to developing a so-called “Eurobomb” has been Germany. In recent years, a growing number of German policy makers have asked the previously unthinkable question of whether it should possess its own nuclear weapons. The German public remains unconvinced, however: Even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 90 percent of Germans still reject the idea of their country developing a nuclear weapons program and it seems unlikely the German public will dramatically pivot toward a Eurobomb. Traditionally neutral EU countries such as Ireland, Malta, and Austria are not likely to be willing to support the bomb either: All three are signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), also known as the ban treaty, and would likely block any attempt to extend France’s nuclear arsenal to Europe…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Easier said than done. To move forward with his proposal, President Macron will need to answer at least three critical questions about the politics and logistics of a European-level nuclear weapon sharing arrangement. First, France will need to clarify whether it wants to retain full decision-making power over its nuclear arsenal. ……………………………………..

Second, it is not clear how France could realistically provide nuclear deterrence to the entire Union. French nuclear forces have limited capabilities, with a much smaller and less diversified arsenal than that of other major nuclear powers, and its nuclear deterrence has been developed for a strictly defensive purpose. France partially disarmed its nuclear arsenal in the 1990s after the Cold War, reducing its nuclear stockpiles from 600 warheads to just under 300……………………………………………………………

In practice, the idea of a French nuclear umbrella for Europe also raises a third question for Macron: How to embed the French nuclear armament into existing European structures and how this shift would complement NATO’s capabilities in Europe…………………………………………………………………….  https://thebulletin.org/2024/05/france-wants-to-extend-its-nuclear-umbrella-to-europe-but-is-macron-ready-to-trade-paris-for-helsinki/

May 12, 2024 Posted by | France, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

12 years behind schedule, EDF’s Flamanville 3 nuclear plant gets regulatory approval for trial period

 Electricite de France SA got regulatory approval to start up its new
nuclear reactor 12 years behind schedule after the utility faced
construction problems ranging from concrete weakness to faulty pipe welds.
The green light for commissioning of the Flamanville 3 nuclear plant
located in Northwestern France allows EDF to load the fuel in the reactor,
proceed with trials, then begin operations, the Autorite de Surete
Nucleaire said in a statement on Tuesday.

Further approvals will be
required when reaching key milestones during the trial phase, the regulator
added said. Once connected to the grid, the 1.6-gigawatt plant called a
European Pressurized Reactor will join EDF’s fleet of 56 reactors in
France, which accounted for about two-thirds of the country’s power
production last year.

 Bloomberg 7th May 2024

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/edf-gets-approval-to-start-long-delayed-nuclear-plant-in-france-1.2069909

May 9, 2024 Posted by | France, safety | Leave a comment

How long does it take to build a nuclear reactor? We ask France

Sophie Vorrath, May 8, 2024,  https://reneweconomy.com.au/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-a-nuclear-reactor-we-ask-france/

A short answer to this question might be, it depends who you ask. Ask Australia’s Opposition leader Peter Dutton, for instance, and he will tell you a federal Coalition government under his leadership could have a nuclear power plant up and running in Australia within a decade.

Ask the highly experienced French state-owned nuclear power giant EDF, which manages 56 reactors in the world’s most nuclear dependent country, and you would get rather a different answer.

Bloomberg reports that EDF this week got regulatory approval to start up its newest nuclear reactor, the 1.6GW Flamanville plant in France’s north west – a milestone that is 12 years behind schedule and more than four times over budget, thanks to a range of construction problems including concrete weakness and faulty pipe welds.

The green light allows EDF to load the fuel in the reactor, proceed with trials, then begin operations, the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire said in a statement on Tuesday. Further approvals will be needed upon reaching key milestones during the trial phase, the regulator said.

According to other reports, EDF said last month it hoped to connect the Flamanville pressurised reactor to the national grid by the European summer and reach full power by the end of the year.

But it will not be smooth sailing from there. A faulty vessel cover still needs replacing at the plant, with reports suggesting this has been pushed out to 2026, when the plant would be shut down for up to a year.

Meanwhile, EDF in March raised its cost estimate for the construction of six new nuclear reactors to €67.4 billion ($A102.5 billion), Reuters has reported, up from the company’s first estimated their cost of €51.7 billion.

So, how long does it take to build a nuclear reactor?

Kobad Bhavnagri, Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s energy expert and global head of strategy says the long delay and cost blowout at Flamanville 3 is not an isolated incident.

“Very similar delays and multifold cost blowouts have occurred with recent reactor builds in the UK, Finland and USA,” Bhavnagri writes on LinkedIn.

“Countries with well established nuclear industries.

“The lesson here? Don’t believe anyone who says they know how much it will cost and how long it will take to build a new nuclear plant (unless they are in China).”

May 9, 2024 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, business and costs, France | Leave a comment

France’s Macron wants to build 14 new Nuclear reactors by 2050. 6 is more realistic

energy post eu, April 29, 2024 by Jonathan Bruegel

France’s President Macron is talking about a nuclear renaissance, after years of uncertainty over its future. The goal is to build 14 new reactors by 2050. But Jonathan Bruegel at IEEFA says this is unrealistc. France’s nuclear sector has much to recommend it. It produces up to 80% of the country’s total power generation, the highest share of nuclear in the generation mix anywhere in the world, and CO2-free. However, France hasn’t built a nuclear reactor since 1999, and construction delays and budget overruns plague the completion of its latest reactor, Flamanville 3, started in 2007. And with many of the 56 currently operational reactors reaching the end of their 40-year lifetime, decisions must be made whether to shut them down or extend their lifetimes by 10 or 20 years through major refits. Bruegel looks at the fundamentals and estimates that a more realistic goal is to build 6 new reactors by 2050, and to extend the lifetimes of 13 (or a maximum of 20) reactors. That would leave nuclear’s share in France’s 2050 mix at a maximum of 40% and more realistically 30%.

Key findings

  • Given that new nuclear projects have faced significant construction delays and cost overruns, France’s plan to build 14 new reactors by 2050 is unrealistic.
  • Nuclear should continue playing a key role in France’s power sector but not at the expense of renewables growth.
  • French policy has recently shifted from a commitment to reduce nuclear generation to calls for a “renaissance” of the technology.
  • France’s heavy reliance on nuclear has kept its power sector emissions relatively low but left it exposed to the many challenges associated with the technology.

Energy security

………………………… In the last two years, Europe’s imports of Russian piped gas have been largely replaced by liquified natural gas (LNG) from alternative sources. Curtailments and demand response mechanisms have contributed to absorbing the price shock…………………………..

In the case of France, this energy crisis was especially challenging since it coincided with many nuclear reactors being taken offline for maintenance work. In 2022, the country was a net power importer for the first time in more than 40 years. In 2023, as most nuclear reactors went back online, it resumed being a net power exporter. The episode illustrated the risks of France’s exposure to nuclear power.

Nuclear has dominated France’s power mix since the 1980s

……………………………..However, as Chart 1 [on original] shows, France hasn’t built a nuclear reactor since 1999, meaning its EPR expertise hasn’t benefitted its domestic nuclear fleet as much as it could have. Construction of the latest reactor, Flamanville 3, started in 2007. It has yet to be commissioned. So far, it is delayed by 12 years and is almost four times over budget.

With many reactors reaching the end of their 40-year lifetime, decision-makers must choose whether to shut them down or extend their operations by 10 or 20 years through major refitting programmes.

Policy shift sees France plan a “nuclear renaissance”

Nuclear’s role in France’s future power mix has become an increasingly crucial and controversial political debate.

After his election to the presidency in 2012, François Hollande committed to reducing the share of nuclear in France’s power production to 50% by 2035, with an ambitious decommissioning plan. However, not one nuclear unit was decommissioned under his presidency and no legally binding decommissioning dates for plants were set. The only binding commitment was to cap French nuclear capacity to 63GW.


During his first term between 2017 and 2022, President Emmanuel Macron did not engage in any nuclear policy shift, postponing the debate. The Flamanville 1 and 2 nuclear reactors were decommissioned in 2020 because they had exceeded their 40-year lifetime and no agreement had been made with operator EDF for a major refit programme.

Criticisms

During his second term, Macron has called for a “nuclear renaissance” and announced a goal to build 14 new reactors by 2050, implicitly targeting a maintenance of the 63GW of capacity and nuclear’s share in the power generation mix. The announcement was heavily criticised from across the political spectrum, with the main argument being that nuclear would slow the growth of renewables. Concerns have also been raised about the challenges associated with nuclear technology such as safety issues, long construction times, massive capital expenditures (see Chart 2 on original), a levelised cost of electricity higher than renewables and waste management.

Despite its role in reducing carbon emissions, Nuclear must not limit Renewables growth

Nuclear is not considered a renewable technology since uranium is needed, but the debate remains open on whether nuclear is green. 

Although its challenges are well known (e.g., safety, costs, waste management), the French plan to build 14 new nuclear units by 2050 seems at best unrealistic.

Significant construction delays and cost overruns faced by the two latest EPRs, Flamanville 3 in France and Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, are evidence that building an average of one reactor every two years until 2050 is not a feasible goal…………………………………………………. more https://energypost.eu/frances-macron-wants-to-build-14-new-nuclear-reactors-by-2050-6-is-more-realistic/

May 6, 2024 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

France Increases State Funding for Advanced Nuclear R&D Project

by Jov Onsat, Rigzone Staff, Thursday, May 02, 2024

The French government has received clearance from the European Commission to provide Electricité de France (EDF) a further EUR 300 million ($321.6 million) for the front-end design phase of a project to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs).

The project by Nuward, the nuclear energy-focused subsidiary of state-owned EDF, aims to come up with a design that has a power output of up to 300 megawatts electric.

The front-end design is the third phase of the five-phase project. The Commission previously approved EUR 50 million ($53.6 million) in French state aid for the second phase, which focused on gathering new knowledge for SMR design and construction.

Under the measure, the aid will take the form of a direct grant of up to EUR 300 million that will cover the R&D [research and development] project until early 2027”, the Commission said in a statement announcing clearance for the new funding from European Union competition regulations. “The measure will support Nuward in sizing the modules and components of the SMRs and validating their integration in the SMRs by means of numerical simulators and laboratory tests.

“Nuward will also carry out industrialization studies relating to the modular design and mass production of SMRs. Finally, the measure will also support Nuward in the preparation of the required safety demonstrations for the approval of the project by the national nuclear safety authorities”.

The Commission recently launched an alliance to accelerate the development of SMRs, following moves by the United Kingdom and United States to commercially scale up the advanced nuclear generation technology.

The public-private coalition aims to come up with a working model by the 2030s. “The Alliance targets a wide range of SMR stakeholders including vendors, utilities, specialized nuclear companies, financial institutions, research organizations, training centers and civil society organizations”, the Commission said in a press release February 9 announcing the initiative…………………..

Earlier the UK government announced an investment of GBP 300 million ($376 million) for the domestic production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), challenging Russia’s status as the only commercial manufacturer of the fuel for SMRs. The UK previously funded a program by Rolls-Royce PLCs to design an SMR model, which is currently awaiting approval for deployment in Poland, as announced by the company last week—though the product is still undergoing the regulatory design assessment in the UK.

The UK will become the first country in Europe to launch a high-tech HALEU nuclear fuel program, strengthening supply for new nuclear projects and driving Putin further out of global energy markets”, the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said in a news release January 7 announcing the HALEU funding.

The DESNZ said GBP 10 million ($12.5 million) has also been allotted to develop sites and promote skills development for the production of other “advanced nuclear fuels”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says HALEU is only produced in the U.S. and Russia but only the latter makes the fuel at a commercial scale. SMRs need HALEU, which contains five to 20 percent of uranium-235, beyond the five percent level that fuels most of today’s nuclear power plants, according to the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

The UK move was followed by an announcement by the US Department of Energy (DOE) offering contracts worth up to $500 million in total for HALEU production, besides funding offers for SMR design development. “Currently, HALEU is not commercially available from U.S.-based suppliers, and boosting domestic supply could spur the development and deployment of advanced reactors in the United States”, the DOE noted in a media statement January 9 announcing the funding offer.

Last year the U.S. Nuclear Regulator Commission issued the country’s first certification for an SMR design, that of NuScale Power Corp.  https://www.rigzone.com/news/france_increases_state_funding_for_advanced_nuclear_rd_project-02-may-2024-176607-article/

May 2, 2024 Posted by | France, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

Macron ready to ‘open debate’ on nuclear European defence

French President Emmanuel Macron is ready to “open the debate” about the role of nuclear weapons in a common European defence, he said in an interview published Saturday

 https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240427-macron-ready-to-open-debate-on-nuclear-european-defence 27/04/2024

It was just the latest in a series of speeches in recent months in which he has stressed the need for a European-led defence strategy.

“I am ready to open this debate which must include anti-missile defence, long-range capabilities, and nuclear weapons for those who have them or who host American nuclear armaments,” the French president said in an interview with regional press group EBRA.

“Let us put it all on the table and see what really protects us in a credible manner,” he added.

France will “maintain its specificity but is ready to contribute more to the defence of Europe”.

The interview was carried out Friday during a visit to Strasbourg.

Following Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, France is the only member of the bloc to possess its own nuclear weapons.

In a speech Thursday to students at Paris’ Sorbonne University, Macron warned that Europe faced an existential threat from Russian aggression.

He called on the continent to adopt a “credible” defence strategy less dependent on the United States.

“Being credible is also having long-range missiles to dissuade the Russians.

“And then there are nuclear weapons: France’s doctrine is that we can use them when our vital interests are threatened,” he added.

“I have already said there is a European dimension to these vital interests.”

Constructing a common European defence policy has long been a French objective, but it has faced opposition from other EU countries who consider NATO’s protection to be more reliable.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the possible return of the isolationist Donald Trump as US president has given new life to calls for greater European defence autonomy.

April 30, 2024 Posted by | France, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Where are France’s nuclear reactors and what is planned for more?

the six new sites will by no means triple French production, particularly since the older plants will increasingly be closed for repair and maintenance. 

President Macron wants to triple atomic energy production by 2050

Richard Henshell, Saturday 20 April 2024 

France is the third biggest producer of nuclear energy in the world and hopes to triple production by 2050. We look at where the country’s nuclear sites are and at President Macron’s plans for more.

Nuclear power represents up to 70% of the electricity produced in France at 282 Terawatt-hours (TWh), behind only China (395TWh) and the US (772TWh) and far ahead of the UK (42TWh). 

However, many of its plants are approaching the end of their life-cycle. The majority of France’s 56 reactors date from the 1980s, and only two have been built since the year 2000.

In order to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris Climate Accords, President Macron announced his plans to reinvest in France’s ageing nuclear plants during last year’s COP28 climate meeting in Dubai.

“Nuclear energy is back,” said Mr Macron (in English), adding that it was time to recognise the “essential role that nuclear energy can play in efforts to reach zero carbon dioxide emissions on a global level”.

“We will triple our capacity to produce nuclear energy between 2020 and 2050,” he said.

France’s 56 reactors are shared between 19 sites. Another reactor is scheduled to power up at Flamanville this summer, bringing the total to 57 reactors.

There are also plans to construct six new reactors at three existing plants:

  • Two at Penly (Seine-Maritime) for 2035
  • Two at Gravelines (Nord) for 2038
  • Two at Le Bugey (Ain) for 2042

Construction is scheduled to start in summer 2024 on first of these new reactors in Penly, which like the others, will use the powerful new EPR-2 design. The estimated total cost for the six reactors is around €67.4 billion.

However, the six new sites will by no means triple French production, particularly since the older plants will increasingly be closed for repair and maintenance. 

Indeed, in December 2021, the discovery of cracks in the emergency cooling systems of France’s four newest reactors led to them being shut down for over a year

Regardless, Mr Macron announced in February 2022 that France’s older plants could conceivably operate far into the future – beyond their 60th year or until they are no longer capable of producing electricity, or no longer safe.

April 24, 2024 Posted by | France, politics, technology | Leave a comment

EDF confirms cracks on 1.3 GW Paluel 2 reactor

(Montel) EDF has found cracks on its Paluel 2 (1.3 GW) nuclear reactor in the north of France, a company spokeswoman told Montel on Friday, confirming prior comments by the firm’s executive director Cedric Lewandowski.

Reporting by: Caroline Pailliez, 05 Apr 2024,  https://montelnews.com/news/df0e8352-e018-4d1d-af96-63266d385d3c/edf-confirms-corrosion-cracks-on-paluel-2-1-3-gw-reactor

Questioned by a parliamentary committee late on Thursday, Lewandowski said the French state-run firm had “recently” found traces of corrosion at its Blayais 4 (910 MW) and Paluel 2 reactors. He gave no further details.

Contacted by Montel, an EDF spokeswoman confirmed the firm had found cracks at the Paluel unit but refused to provide any other details such as when and where the corrosion was found or whether repairs were underway.

“The possibility of carrying out this type of repair on shutdowns scheduled for 2024 is included in our production forecasts,” she added.

Paluel 2 has been offline for maintenance and refueling since 2 February. The outage was initially scheduled to last 98 days but EDF warned last week the shutdown could be extended up to a “total of 135 days”.

The reactor is currently due to return to service on 10 May.

The news comes after EDF confirmed last month that a 30-day outage extension at its Blayais 4 (910 MW) reactor was due to corrosion.

“No surprise”
Lewandowski told the committee in the upper house that the “recent discovery” of corrosion at Blayais 4 and Paluel 2 “came as no surprise”.

Having checked France’s newest reactors, which it said were most susceptible to corrosion, the firm was now probing older units, such as at Blayais and Paluel, he said, adding EDF knew it would also find cracks of “lesser importance” on those units.

Corrosion was “still with us” and “would be until 2025” when the firm was due to complete its probe of France’s 56 reactors, he said.

“Fortunately, we are now in the process of mastering it… Our construction sites are getting faster and faster, our ability to understand the phenomenon is now almost total.”

EDF warned in December it might have to extend one in three planned outages for around 30 days on average at 13 reactors this year and 13 reactors in 2025, based on the probability of finding corrosion on units yet to be examined. 

The issue has dogged the company, with reactor outages jumping 47% in 2022 due to problems at numerous units, with output plunging to a 33-year low of 279 TWh.

Edited by: Chris Eales, Robin Newbold

April 8, 2024 Posted by | France, safety | Leave a comment

EDF Names New Head of Nuclear Plant Projects Amid Cost Overruns

Francois de Beaupuy, Bloomberg News, 29 Mar 24,  https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/edf-names-new-head-of-nuclear-plant-projects-amid-cost-overruns-1.2053220

Bloomberg) — Electricite de France SA appointed a new head of nuclear plant projects as the utility struggles with the construction of new reactors in the UK and prepares plans to build at least six new atomic units in France.

Thierry Le Mouroux, a member of EDF’s executive committee, will become senior executive vice president with responsibility for the group’s Projects and Construction Directorate from April 1, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Xavier Ursat, the executive in charge of new nuclear projects and engineering, will become senior executive vice president with responsibility for the Strategy, Technologies, Innovation and Development Directorate. This will “act as project owner for nuclear construction projects” and drive nuclear development abroad, EDF said.

The appointments, part of a broader reshuffle at the executive committee, come as Chief Executive Officer Luc Remont is under pressure to boost the debt-laden company’s performance to cope with the ballooning cost of its Hinkley Point C nuclear project in the UK and the prospect of soaring capital expenditure to build new atomic plants in France.

“We are currently seeing an unprecedented recovery in nuclear power, which brings considerable challenges for EDF,” Remont said in the statement. “Our organization and the way we work is evolving to deliver further improvements in performance and ensure that our nuclear projects are successful.”

Earlier this year, EDF raised the budget of the two reactors it’s building at Hinkley Point in the UK to as much as £47.9 billion ($60.4 billion), citing labor shortages, supply chain issues, and longer-than-expected cable and pipe-fitting works.

It’s also working to complete the basic design of six new reactors to be built in France, which could cost about €67.4 billion ($72 billion), and is seeking to develop a so-called small modular reactor by the start of the next decade.

April 1, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

France will help Brazil develop nuclear-powered submarines, Macron says

President Emmanuel Macron and counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday celebrated the launch of Brazil’s third French-designed submarine, which will help secure the country’s immense coastline, dubbed the “Blue Amazon.”

France 24 By:NEWS WIRES|: Video by:Angela DIFFLEY  27/03/2024 

The two men highlighted the importance of their countries’ defense partnership during a time of major global unrest, at a ceremony at Brazil’s ultra-modern naval base in Itaguai near Rio de Janeiro…

Despite differences, notably on the Ukraine war, Macron said “the great peaceful powers of Brazil and France” had “the same vision of the world.”…………………………………..

The construction of the submarines was outlined in a 2008 deal between Lula and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters.

The fourth submarine, the Angostura, will be launched in 2025.

France skirts around nuclear sub 

Brazil is also planning to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, the Alvaro Alberto, a project that has suffered significant delays, mainly due to budget constraints.

The French naval defense manufacturer Naval Group is supporting the design and construction of the submarine, except for the nuclear boiler which is being designed by the Brazilians.

Brasilia is however trying to convince Paris to increase technology transfers to help it integrate the reactor into the submarine and sell it equipment linked to nuclear propulsion.

 France has been reticent to transfer such technology due to the challenges of nuclear proliferation.

“If Brazil wants to have access to knowledge of nuclear technology, it is not to wage war. We want this knowledge to assure all countries that want peace that Brazil will be at their side,” said Lula.

Macron told Brazil “France will be at your side” during the development of the nuclear-powered submarines, without announcing specific assistance.

“I want us to open the chapter for new submarines… that we look nuclear propulsion in the face while being perfectly respectful of all non-proliferation commitments,” he said………………………  https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240327-france-to-help-brazil-develop-nuclear-technology-for-submarines

2

March 29, 2024 Posted by | Brazil, France, weapons and war | Leave a comment

For the EPR, the objective of loading fuel before the end of March is no longer tenable.

Officially, the loading of fuel on the Flamanville EPR (Manche) is still
planned by EDF before the end of March 2024. Officially, there is nothing
new to know about the Flamanville EPR (Hague). No new delay (even slight)
to announce, nor “white smoke” to be seen. However, the deadlines are
getting closer, and the calendar no longer matches.

La Presse de la Manche 19th March 2024

https://actu.fr/normandie/flamanville_50184/nucleaire-pour-l-epr-l-objectif-d-un-chargement-du-combustible-avant-fin-mars-n-est-plus-tenable_60840485.html

March 27, 2024 Posted by | France | Leave a comment

Nuclear Deterrence At Sea – France Begins Work On ‘Cutting Edge’ Nuke-Powered Ballistic Missile Submarine

By EurAsian Times Desk -March 21, 2024

The steel cutting of the first third-generation French SSBN took place at Naval Group’s shipyard in Cherbourg on March 20th. This symbolic gesture marks the start of hull production for these submarines, which will ensure France’s nuclear deterrence posture until the end of the 21st century.

Among the most complex systems, SSBNs are the cornerstones of France’s strategic oceanic force (FOST) and ensure that nuclear deterrence remains at sea.

Launched in February 2021, the SNLE 3G program for the French Navy brings together the armed forces, the French defense procurement agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement – DGA), which is responsible for overall project management, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), for the nuclear boilers, and Naval Group, which is responsible for overall project management of the submarines, in association with TechnicAtome for the nuclear boilers………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.eurasiantimes.com/nuclear-deterrence-at-sea-france-starts-constructing/

March 21, 2024 Posted by | France, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons: France to restart tritium production with EDF

By Paul Messad | Euractiv France, 20 Mar 24

France’s Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced on Monday (18 March) a new production cycle for tritium, which is essential for the manufacture of nuclear weapons, using state utility EDF’s two civilian reactors.

Lecornu visited the Civaux nuclear power plant in south-west France, which will produce the tritium for the military.

The tritium will be manufactured on the premises of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA), the French nuclear scientific and industrial research establishment.

To manufacture tritium, it is necessary to treat lithium-containing material with radiation, by exposing it to the neutron fluxes present inside the core of a reactor.

Tritium, whose gaseous form is practically non-existent, naturally, can be extracted from the irradiated material.

This hydrogen isotope (1 proton, 2 neutrons, and hydrogen-3) is particularly vulnerable to disintegrating spontaneously. As a result, any stockpile is halved in 12 years and disappears almost entirely after a century.

But it is vital for the production of nuclear weapons, particularly hydrogen bombs and neutron bombs, for which it is the main explosive.

The French army and EDF have come up with this “collaboration” to ensure the availability of sufficient stocks of tritium “as part of the continuity and credibility of France’s nuclear deterrent”, according to the annex to the press release.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, France currently has 290 active warheads, the fourth largest, after China with 500, the US with 3,700, and Russia with 4,400…………………………………………………….

Discussions between the French armed forces ministry and EDF on this subject have been underway for more than 25 years, in anticipation of the closure in 2009 of the two reactors intended solely for the production of tritium located in Marcoule, in south-east France, after more than 50 years in operation.

The parties finally selected Civaux, one of France’s most powerful and newest nuclear power stations. It was selected because it was capable of operating for a very long time, Dutheil said……………………

despite the reassurances of the various parties involved, any signed agreement between the French government, CEA, and EDF, will not specify a date – to define the legal and contractual scope of the activities, a press release states.

Dutheil stated, that later this year EDF will submit a dossier to the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire, the French nuclear safety authority, which will examine the feasibility of the project.

As a result of this timetable, the first test irradiation of lithium will not take place until before 2025, when the plant’s reactors are scheduled to be shut down for maintenance.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]  https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/nuclear-weapons-france-to-restart-tritium-production-with-edf/

March 21, 2024 Posted by | France, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Deadlines, costs, production: France’s nuclear company EDF in a moment of truth

By Paul Messad | Euractiv France,  Mar 18, 2024

EDF, the French state-owned energy giant faces criticism for rising costs and delays in its nuclear projects, its existing reactors have also been encountering problems. Euractiv looks at the implications of these challenges for EDF and the wider nuclear energy industry.

January 23, 2023: EDF, Europe’s leading energy company, announces a further extension of the costs and construction times of its two 3rd generation pressurized water reactors (EPR) located at Hinkley Point in England. The budget could increase by 70 to 90% compared to initial estimates and the start-up could be four to six years late.

……….the delays are “not likely to undermine the confidence of the British government in its nuclear strategy” , defends SFEN. Proof of this would be its reinvestment of more than a billion pounds sterling in two other reactors built by EDF in England, at Sizewell. 

For others, on the contrary, the Anglo-Saxon situation is symptomatic of the challenge faced by the largest nuclear operator in the world, in whose confidence is eroded as projects progress, while it aims, in particular, at the construction of six, then 14 EPRs in France, and one (or even four in total) in the Czech Republic for which the authorities are awaiting guarantees.

Especially since another project tarnishes the image of the French giant. On the continent, EDF is in fact building an EPR in France, in Flamanville (Normandy). But as in England, construction is experiencing significant delays (12 years) and additional costs (+470%). The start-up of the reactor planned for “mid-2024” could even be further delayed .

……………………..In France, the government intends to get started since it plans to build six EPRs — and possibly eight others. Estimated costs and deadlines for the first six: 52 billion euros and a first commissioning in 2035.  

For once, according to Les Échos , costs have already been revised upwards… by 30%. When questioned, the CEO of EDF, Luc Rémont, “does not confirm any figures” . 

“We will be there when we have made all the optimizations [engineering design, component manufacturing, etc., Editor’s note] ,” he explained on the sidelines of the Franco-Czech nuclear summit organized in Prague. on March 8 and 9. 

The deadlines, already “very demanding” , he agreed at the end of November, have since been postponed to 2040. 

This back and forth annoys the Minister of the Economy and Energy. “EDF must learn to keep its costs and its schedule ,” criticized Bruno  Le Maire at the beginning of March in Le Monde .

Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia…

It must be said that EDF is playing on its international reputation. 

In Prague, Mr. Rémont accompanied the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who came to defend EDF’s candidacy for the construction of one, or even four reactors in total, in the Czech Republic.

However, the country’s authorities have emphasized their commitment to respecting deadlines and costs. 

“We are interested in the lowest possible price, the highest possible guarantees that the plant will be built on time ,” Jozef Síkela, Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, told Euractiv .

Clearly, it is not because EDF is the only European company in the running that it will be chosen. Worse, the company is walking on eggshells, competing, as in 2009 on the reactor issue in the United Arab Emirates, by a subsidiary of the South Korean KEPCO. 

“Fifteen years later, the Flamanville EPR […] is still not in service. Three of the South Korean reactors in Abu Dhabi are there and the last one very soon [with delay, Editor’s note]” , reminded the former representative of EDF to the European institutions (1987 to 2000) Lionel Taccoen, resumed on​ 

The situation may seem all the more worrying as EDF is also interested in building reactors in the Netherlands, Bulgaria , Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland where the French firm was recently defeated . 

In addition, the Czech authorities have left the door open for the American Westinghouse to propose a new offer. The latter has also won several contracts for reactors in Europe in recent years. …………………….

The other dark spot on EDF’s picture lies in the management of its existing fleet and in particular  the annus horribilis 2022 where, in the midst of the energy crisis, production has fallen back to pre-1990 levels .

“The year in which France should have shone is exactly the year in which we had a 50% reduction in the fleet,” argued to Euractiv at the end of January Xavier Daval, vice-president of the Renewable Energies Union, the main actors’ union. of the sector in France. 

We will now have to wait until 2027, according to EDF , to once again reach production levels slightly higher than those of 1995 (around 360 TWh over the year), far from the 400-420 TWh reached between 2002 and 2015. 

As if more was needed, EDF discovered at the beginning of March new “indications” of corrosion , a nightmare of 2022, on one of the reactors in the park.

Nevertheless, the company and the nuclear industry benefit more than ever from government support. France, like the fifteen other European states, which are part of the “nuclear alliance”, supports the emergence of 30 to 45 large reactors by 2050 . Will EDF be the main architect? https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/frances-edf-faces-uphill-battle-as-europes-demand-for-nuclear-reactors-grows/

March 20, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

Exposing myths about building French nuclear power

How French nuclear construction times and costs have been getting longer and longer – for a long time

DAVID TOKE, MAR 16, 2024,  https://davidtoke.substack.com/p/exposing-myths-about-building-french

It has been standard in the UK to talk about the wonders of the French nuclear programme and how if only we copied them nuclear power would get cheaper and cheaper. The story has gone ‘If only we built a series of nuclear power plant like they did’. But it turns out that the idea that the French nuclear programme was ever getting any cheaper was a myth.

In the UK Government policy documents would use their own language to describe nuclear prospects. Special terms are used that are not usually used to discuss other energy developments. These include the acronym ‘FOAK’ which stands for ‘First of a Kind’. In other words the first plant will be relatively more expensive than the plants of the same model that followed them. Another term used of course is ‘overnight’ costs – that is a wonderful piece of euphemism given that nuclear power plants are anything but built overnight. Its use obscures the fact that very large interest costs mount up during the time that the plant is being constructed, costs which are not included in the total cost estimates. That is because the plant in the spreadsheet is being built overnight (?!).

But when we examine the actual ‘overnight’ costs of French nuclear power, as reported, they have always been increasing. Look at the analysis by Arnulf Grubler published in the journal Energy Policy in 2010: [graph on original]

Grubler’s analysis did not include the length of time taken to construct the latest French nuclear power plant at Flamanville. This is an EPR (the same design as is being built at Hinkley C and planned for Sizewell C. Construction of the Flamanville EPR began in 2007 but it has still not been completed. Hence the Figure below includes the time taken to build Flamanville up until now, with the proviso that the plant still has not been completed.

It should be understood that, broadly speaking, the cost of building reactors is proportionate to the amount of construction time. So the cost has gone up, and in recent years cost has been going up at a rapid rate,.

In my forthcoming book ‘Energy Revolutions – Profiteering versus Democracy’ I outliner four reasons for the increasing difficulties of building nuclear power plants:

‘First is the fact that nuclear power plant designers have incorporated safety features designed to minimise the consequences of nuclear accidents, but in doing so the plants have become much more complicated and difficult to build without great expense.

A second reason is that large construction projects of whatever type, at least in the West, tend to greatly overrun their budgets. In the West, improvements in health and safety regulations to protect construction workers have no doubt played a part in this.

A third factor is that, in the West at least, the cheap industrialised labour force that dominated the industrial economies of the past and which could be used to develop nuclear programmes (in the way that France did in the 1980s) has ceased to exist.

A fourth factor is simply that renewable energy technologies, especially wind and solar power, can be largely manufactured offsite in a modular fashion and their costs have rapidly fallen, leaving nuclear power increasingly uncompetitive.’ (page 30)

This book shows how we can move forward to an energy system powered by renewable energy rather than nuclear power or ‘carbon capture’ fossil fuels. It reveals how selective public ownership and targeted interventions, as part of an energy democracy programme will protect consumer interests better than the chaotic energy supply system that failed consumers so expensively in the recent energy crisis. We want no more of that!

Essentially, the idea of using nuclear power as a significant measure to engineer the global energy transition is at best a tremendous waste of resources. It is not just France that is seeing its nuclear power programme stall. It is a global phenomenon. Renewable energy is, by contrast, expanding at ever-incredible rates. As can be seen from the following graphs which is taken from my book ‘Energy Revolutions’. [on original]

March 19, 2024 Posted by | France, spinbuster | Leave a comment

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