Of the four nuclear reactors at Cattenom, only one is currently in operation. (Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne/Archives)

Of the four nuclear reactors at Cattenom, only one is currently in operation. (Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne/Archives)

On Wednesday 2 November, the French government unveiled the first list of sites that will host new nuclear reactors by 2035-2037. Cattenom is not among them, at least for the moment.

In February 2022, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that France would build six new EPR 2 nuclear reactors, the first to be commissioned by 2035, and with an option for eight more. On Wednesday, the French government presented its bill to accelerate the construction of the six new EPR reactors to the cabinet. To save time, France has chosen to install the new generation of reactors at existing power plants.

According to the bill, which will be put to the Senate this week and then publicly debated in the National Assembly early next year, the Cattenom nuclear power plant is not among the sites selected for the six future EPR reactors.


Read also


According to several French media, the first two future EPR reactors will be built at Penly in Seine-Maritime and then two at Gravelines in Nord department in northern France. Bugey and Tricastin, in the Rhône valley, are being considered for the last two future EPRs.

This article was first published in and has been translated by Delano.