Europe | Out of order

France’s nuclear reactors will not work as normal any time soon

The trouble will persist well into next year

Workers pass next to the reactor building equipment entry at the third-generation European Pressurised Reactor project (EPR) nuclear reactor of Flamanville, Normandy on June 14, 2022. - EDF is to start the Flamanville EPR in 2023 after countless delays and setbacks. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)
|PARIS

When EDF, the French energy giant, warned in May that nuclear-electricity production this year would be lower than previously forecast because half its reactors were out of action, the timing could not have been worse. Thanks to its nuclear industry, France is usually Europe’s biggest net exporter of electricity. The closures turned the country into a net power importer for the first time, just as the continent faced an energy crunch. When in September EDF then announced that even by 2024 output would still be well below normal levels, the problem became a national embarrassment.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Out of order”

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