The French government expects plans for new nuclear reactors should be submitted around 2023 with a target date of 2035-37 for the reactors to go online, Berangere Abba, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological Transition, said during a parliamentary debate in the Senate on 6 January.

The ARENH law (Accès régulé à l'électricité nucléaire historique, 2010) obliges EDF to sell part of its nuclear generation (up to 100 TWh/year, i.e. around a quarter of its production) to alternative suppliers on the wholesale market at a regulated price

It says its ultra-compact molten salt reactor uses "the untapped potential of used radioactive materials, and thorium, unused mining waste."

The new strategic cooperation agreement was signed by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachov and Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana during the World Nuclear Exhibition held in Paris this week.

France operates 56 nuclear power reactors, which make up over 70% of the country’s electricity generation. It has a smaller per capita carbon footprint than most developed countries. “France is already a world leader in low carbon energy generation, and nuclear energy has a major role to play in that,” Mr Grossi said.

France plans to grant for an offshore wind project off the coast of Normandy. The project will have a capacity of 1,000 to 1,050 MW and is expected to produce 4.5 TWh/year of electricity.

"I can confirm to you we will launch new projects on all types of energies especially renewable energy and hydrogen. We clearly want to be hand in hand in the fight against climate change."

It was noted that Russia has been a reliable supplier of gas to France for as many as 45 years, with exports over this period surpassing 427 billion cubic meters in total.

This is why, to guarantee France's energy independence, to guarantee our country's electricity supply and achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality in 2050, we are going, for the first time in decades, to relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors in our country and continue to develop renewable energies.

Nuclear accounts for almost 75% of France's power production, but former French president Francois Hollande said he aimed to limit its share of the national electricity generation mix to 50% by 2025,