Advertisement

France to cut reliance on nuclear power by 2025

Ben McPartland
Ben McPartland - [email protected]
France to cut reliance on nuclear power by 2025
France will reduce its reliance on nuclear power over the coming years. Photo: AFP

Deputies in the French parliament voted on Friday to reduce the country’s reliance on Nuclear power to produce its electricity supply. It comes after environmental groups have raised concerns about safety at the country's nuclear plants.

Advertisement

In his election manifesto President François Hollande had promised to cut France’s reliance on Nuclear power and that move came a step closer on Friday.

By 2025 France will have reduced the portion of its electricity produced by nuclear power from 75 percent to 50 percent, after a vote in the French parliament on Friday.

Deputies in the National Assembly also voted to reduce the country’s 2012 levels of energy consumption by half by the year 2050.

Hollande’s pledge to reduce the portion of the country’s electricity produced by nuclear power was seen as comprise deal in return for the support for his government by the country’s green party.

The green group the EELV have since pulled their support out of the government, with several deputies like Cecile Duflot refusing to be a part of Manuel Valls’s cabinet.

France is respected worldwide for its expertise in the field of nuclear energy but its reliance on nuclear power has been the subject of controversy.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has regularly staged protests at plants to highlight how vulnerable security is.

In March the French government decided to beef up security after dozens of Greenpeace activists stormed the country’s Fessenheim plant.

The environmental group said the action was aimed "to denounce the risk of French nuclear power for the whole of Europe".

France’s green party welcomed the protest, which they said "shed light on the fragility of our nuclear installations".

The plan to reduce the dependency on nuclear power forms part of France “energy transition” bill which is currently being debated by parliament. 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also