The French Atomic Energy Authority (ASN) has extended the operating license of one of the country’s first nuclear power plant units by 10 years, which means the power plant will be in operation for 50 years.
The news was announced by Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher on Monday on the social networking site X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The operating license for the unit was originally for 40 years, but in light of the regulatory investigations, the ASN has given the go-ahead, making Tricastin-1 the first reactor to be extended to 50 years after 40 years of operation,” Pannier-Runacher said in a social media post on Monday.
He added that it is also possible to extend the operating life of the Tricastin-1 plant by another 10 years, up to 60 years, and that work on this should start now. The minister said that the nuclear power plant was a key element in France’s nuclear renaissance. She also recalled that only nuclear power plants can meet France’s energy needs and its climate objectives.
France plans to build 14 new nuclear power plants by 2050 and to increase the operating lifetime from 40 to 50 years of modernized plants that are about to close but meet safety standards. According to an article in the French business daily Les Échos on Monday, the lifetime of 32 reactors producing 900 megawatts of energy would be extended. In March, the minister in charge of the energy transition asked French energy company EDF to develop solutions.
Under the modernization program, 15 nuclear reactors are currently undergoing modernization upgrades, but 11 reactors have already been fully upgraded, leaving only the regulatory assessment and decision to be taken. The Tricastin nuclear power plant in the south of France was started in 1974 and consists of four reactor blocks.
