Thanks to extra maintenance and modifications, old French nuclear power stations last much longer than anticipated.
Instead of 40 years, they can run for 50 years, according to the government’s nuclear regulator, the Authority for Nuclear Safety (ASN).
ASN’s opinion has been eagerly awaited because no country uses so much energy generated by nuclear energy.
More than 70 percent of the electricity comes from nuclear energy. But many of the 58 nuclear power plants would come to an end, as they have been in place since the 1970s and 1980s.
Now, in ten years, nuclear power plants can be refurbished and adapted. The first nuclear power plant to be renovated for the refurbishment will be that of Tricastin next year.
It is located between Lyon and Marseille on the river Rhône and has been in use since 1980.