Nuclear: In Prague, Macron defends EDF against non-European competition

French President Emmanuel Macron lobbied at a Franco-Czech Energy Forum in Prague on Tuesday (5 March) for the state-owned energy giant EDF’s bid to build new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic plans to build four new nuclear reactors in addition to the six it already has. For the first of the four, two manufacturers are still in the running: France’s EDF, Europe’s leading energy company, and South Korea’s KHNP.

The two companies are awaiting the decision of the Czech authorities, which, according to our information, is expected in June. Construction is due to start in 2029, with the first tests scheduled for 2036 at the earliest.

In a bid to sway the Czech authorities’ decision, Macron lobbied on Tuesday at the Franco-Czech Energy Forum, which he attended with the Minister Delegate for Energy Roland Lescure and business leaders from the nuclear sector, including the CEO of EDF.

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European momentum

“We need to strengthen the European players”, Macron said, building on the growing momentum for developing integrated sectors within EU member states.

This is borne out by the political agreement reached in early February on a Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) aimed at integrating at the European level the industries needed for the energy transition, including the nuclear one.

“If we are in favour of a European value chain, this could be the first step for other industries,” Macron insisted.

In concrete terms, the CEO of EDF, Luc Rémont, said in response to a Euractiv France question that “EDF is the only company that develops, builds and operates third-generation reactors [EPR2] in Europe”.

EDF is currently building three EPRs in Europe: two in England (at Hinkley Point C in the southwest of the country) and one in France (at Flamanville in Normandy). All of them are experiencing major delays.

“We’re learning from the challenges we’ve had and drawing the consequences,” explained Rémont. For him, this situation confirms that EDF should take care of building the reactor in question, and the three others on which the Czech authorities are currently working.

“The serial effect is important in our industry. So our advice is to go for four reactors. That will increase productivity,” Rémont said.

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Orano, research and manpower

Back in January, the former minister for energy transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, travelled to Prague with bosses of the nuclear industry to defend France’s position on Czech nuclear reactors.

Pannier-Runacher, now minister delegate to the minister for agriculture, also signed research cooperation partnerships in Prague. On Tuesday, Macron deepened this cooperation by signing a joint declaration with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on mutual academic recognition and workforce training.

One of Macron’s aims is to “do more” in the field of small modular reactors (SMRs), technologies of reactors defended by the European Commission.

The ‘nuclear alliance’, a group of pro-nuclear EU countries including France and the Czech Republic, announced on Monday (March 4) the forthcoming creation of a “working group” on nuclear financing at the European level.

The event was also an opportunity for French nuclear fuel cycle multinational Orano to sign an agreement with the czech nuclear company ČEZ to supply enriched uranium for the reactors at the Dukovany power plant. With this second agreement in just a few months, the Czech Republic will be able to free itself from Russian enriched fuel.

Pro-nuclear countries back total opening up of EU funding for nuclear

Nuclear technologies should benefit from all types of EU funding, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and innovation funds, the French-led nuclear alliance, which now has 12 EU member states, said at its meeting on Monday.

*Théo Bourgery-Gonse contributed to reporting

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

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