PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron will announce later this week the number of new nuclear reactors France will build and how the country will pay for it, his finance minister said.
Macron said in November that France would build its first new nuclear reactors in decades to reduce its dependence on foreign countries for energy.
He gave no details at the time, but his government has been expected to announce the construction of up to six new pressurised-water reactors.
“Tens of billions of euros will be required if we want to have energy without CO2 emissions and if we want to build new nuclear plants,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a conference organised by German media.
“The French president will give all the figures this week, he will announce the number of reactors and how we will pay for that,” Le Maire said.
Separately, Energy Minister Barbara Pompili said on Franceinfo radio that Macron was expected to detail the relaunch of the nuclear industry during a visit on Thursday to the eastern city of Belfort.
She also confirmed recent media reports that state-controlled energy group EDF would buy General Electric’s France-based turbine unit based in Belfort.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jason Neely)
