The Flamanville EPR (European Pressurised Reactor, or Evolutionary Power Reactor), France’s most powerful nuclear reactor, was connected to the power grid on Christmas Eve. Located on the English Channel, this new-generation pressurised water reactor is the fourth of its kind globally, following two operational reactors in China’s Taishan district, one in Finland on the island of Olkiluoto, and another under construction in the UK at Hinkley Point. The Flamanville reactor is expected to gradually ramp up production by summer, eventually supplying electricity to around two million homes.
Closer to Luxembourg, near the Moselle River, the Cattenom nuclear power plant played a crucial role during the winter of 2023-2024, providing enough electricity to power the equivalent of three million homes when operating at full capacity. With four reactors capable of generating 5,200 megawatts, Cattenom is France’s third-largest nuclear power plant, trailing only Gravelines (5,460 megawatts) and Paluel (5,320 megawatts).
To ensure its continued operation, Cattenom has undergone extensive maintenance. In 2024, French electric utility company EDF (Électricité de France) completed a rigorous maintenance programme, including the third ten-year inspection of production unit No. 4, which is now set to operate for another decade. This “major overhaul” concluded the first phase of EDF’s “Grand Carénage” initiative, a comprehensive renovation and modernisation effort aimed at extending the lifespan of France’s nuclear power plants.
Jérôme Le Saint, the director of the Cattenom plant, recently announced on LinkedIn that the facility will soon reach the 40-year milestone in 2026. The plant’s first reactor was connected to the grid in 1986.
At the risk of not pleasing Luxembourg, which has already been critical in regards to the extension of the lifetime of Cattenom’s power plant in September, Cattenom has announced that “we are preparing to continue to use the power plant until the age of 60 years, and why not even further”. The vast project of maintaining the power plant comes with major challenges, like the unprecedented recruitment of staff (the nuclear plant will be looking for 4,000 employees in the next ten years), the necessity of innovative competences and the adaptation to climate change.
One crucial question remains: can the water resources be guaranteed? The Moselle water is quintessential for the functioning of the plant, as the water enables to cool the reactors. However, if periods of draught multiply in the future, the flow rate of the Moselle could become an issue.
Jérôme Le Saint, in preparation of the fourth decennial inspection, is already looking ahead. At the New Year’s ceremony held in Cattenom at the end of January, the plant’s director referred to a survey carried out among local residents, and announced to the elected representatives that “80% support our continued operation and 70% say they are in favour of building an EPR at Cattenom”, as reported by our colleagues in Le Républicain Lorrain.
It marks the very first time that Electricité de France have mentioned the possibility of constructing a new EPR on a site near the Moselle. The firm has stayed quiet until now about the future of the plant in Cattenom. Will the hypothetical new reactor be an addition to the four already existing plants, or will it replace them? Nothing has been decided yet.
In 2022, Emmanuel Macron announced a recovery plan for atomic plants in France, foreseeing the construction of at least six EPR2 reactors: two in Penly (Seine-Maritime), two in Gravelines (Nord), and two in Bugey, near the Rhine river. The public debate on the project near the Bugey nuclear power station, the only new-generation reactors envisaged on the banks of the river, began on 28 January and will end on 15 May. An EPR at Cattenom has never been discussed before.
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