France’s largest nuclear reactor is finally feeding power into the country’s electricity grid, more than a decade after it was expected to become commercially operational. Flamanville 3, an EPR reactor in Normandy, has suffered a series of technical setbacks in recent years. The 1,600 MW unit, now the most powerful generating unit in France, started supplying electricity on December 21. It was originally expected to be put into service twelve years ago. Luc Remont, CEO of Électricité de France (EDF), the Paris-based multinational utility company, confirmed in a statement the launch of Flamanville 3. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on social media that it was a “great moment for the country,” noting that the unit is “one of the most powerful nuclear reactors in the world.” Macron added: “Reindustrialization to produce low-carbon energy is ecology the French way.”
The Flamanville 3 reactor in Normandy, France, entered commercial operation on December 21, 2024. The unit was originally expected to enter service 12 years ago. With thanks to: EDF The first EPR came online in 2018 when Unit 1 at the Taishan site in China became commercially operational. There are two other EPRs currently in operation: Taishan 2 in China and Olkiluoto in Finland. The Olkiluoto unit came online last year, 14 years after it was originally scheduled to go into service.
‘Historic’ event for France
Remont said the start-up of Flamanville 3 is “historic”, noting: “The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2,” referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), France gets about 62% of its electricity from nuclear power. The group said the country has nearly 60 operational reactors, with about 64 GW of generation capacity. The cost of Flamanville 3 is estimated at around 13.2 billion euros ($13.76 billion), about four times the initial estimated cost of 3.3 billion euros. The reactor was started up on September 3 this year, but underwent a so-called “automatic shutdown” the next day. This resulted in more tests at the site and a gradual ramp-up of Saturday’s grid connection. Macron has promised to add more nuclear power to France’s generation fleet. His government ordered six EPR2 reactors, a simplified version of the EPR design, in 2022. EDF and Framatome develop the EPR2. Macron has said he is considering options for eight more EPR2 units in addition to the six already ordered. The first six EPR2 reactors will be installed in pairs at the Penly, Gravelines and Bugey power stations. —Darrel Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
