The French nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), has requested EDF to present a new version of its Fessenheim nuclear power plant decommissioning plan by the end of April 2020. The French nuclear regulator asks EDF to clarify its decommissioning scenario and to strengthen its organisation of the project. EDF will have to give more details on the dismantling plan and on nuclear waste disposal. The decommissioning of the plant can start only after the publication of a decree issued by the government based on a much more complete plan, which expected to be presented by the end of the first half of 2020.
In September 2019, EDF set up a closure schedule for the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, which will be stopped in two phases: the first 880 MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) will stop operations by the end of February 2020 and the second 880 MW one by the end of June 2020.
The shutdown of Fessenheim, the oldest nuclear power plant in France, was part of a 2012 presidential election pledge to stop the nuclear power plant by the end of the five-year term (by May 2017) and to cut the share of nuclear power in the French power mix from over 75% currently to 50% by 2025. Delays in the commissioning of the 1,650 MW Flamanville nuclear power project prompted authorities to postpone the Fessenheim shutdown to coincide with the EPR start up (now expected in late 2022 at the earliest). The 50% nuclear cap has been postponed to 2035 under the new energy and climate act on carbon neutrality by 2050.
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