France Adds First Nuclear Reactor in 25 Years to Grid

A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
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France Adds First Nuclear Reactor in 25 Years to Grid

A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo

France connected the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor to its grid on Saturday morning, state-run operator EDF said, in the first addition to the country's nuclear power network in 25 years.

The reactor, which began operating in September ahead of the grid connection, is going online 12 years later than originally planned and at a cost of around 13 billion euros - four times the original budget.

"EDF teams have achieved the first connection of the Flamanville EPR to the national grid at 11:48am (1048 GMT). The reactor is now generating electricity," EDF said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The Flamanville 3 European Pressurised Reactor is France's largest at 1.6 gigawatts (GW) and one of the world's biggest, along with China's 1.75 GW Taishan reactor, which is based on a similar design, and Finland's Olkiluoto.

It is the first to be connected to the grid since Civaux 2 in 1999 but is being brought into service at a time of sluggish consumption, with France exporting a record amount of electricity this year.

EDF is planning to build another six new reactors to fulfil a 2022 pledge made by President Emmanuel Macron as part of the country's energy transition plans, although questions remain around the funding and timeline of the new projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ukraine, US in 'Final Stages' of Agreeing Minerals Deal, Kyiv Says 

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
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Ukraine, US in 'Final Stages' of Agreeing Minerals Deal, Kyiv Says 

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Ukraine and the United States are in the final stages of negotiating a minerals deal considered central to ending Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday.

Kyiv and Washington are both interested in US access to Ukraine's undersoil riches, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said any such deal must involve concrete security guarantees.

"Ukrainian and US teams are in the final stages of negotiations regarding the minerals agreement. The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized," deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna wrote on X.

"We hope both US and UA leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington (at) the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come."

Trump has said Ukraine should give the US $500 billion in critical raw materials as payback for aid which Kyiv has already received from the previous Joe Biden administration.

Zelenskiy said this week Washington had supplied his country with $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in direct budget support, and that he will not acknowledge Biden-supplied aid as loan.

Zelenskiy refused to sign an initial draft deal earlier this month, sparking frustration in the White House. Senior Trump administration officials said on Sunday they expected an agreement would be signed this week.