On April 9, the French Ministry of Ecology announced the publication of a decree, which repeals the authorization to operate the Fessenheim nuclear power plant from the commissioning of the Flamanville-3 EPR, if it comes online before 11 April 2020.
This decision is in line with the capping of EDF's nuclear generating capacity at 63.2 GW required by the Energy Transition Act and the objective of reducing the share of nuclear in the power mix from 75% to 50% by 2025.
This energy programme is facing the conservative opposition, arguing that France's nuclear industry is a guarantor of the country's energy independence and a source of cheap electricity. The French trade unions have also weighed in on the question of Fessenheim, fearing the closure of the plant will lead to losing around 2,000 jobs, directly and indirectly.
On April 6, EDF's Board of Directors agreed that a request to repeal the plant's operating license would be transmitted to the State and obtained that the repeal order would take place only during the six months preceding the commissioning of the Flamanville EPR (scheduled for 2019), which might suggest that the decree authorizing the closure of Fessenheim would only be signed at that time.
The Fessenheim nuclear power plant is the oldest operational power plant in France, with two 880 MW (920 MW gross) PWR units commissioned in 1978. EDF expected to operate the two reactors for 60 years, i.e. until 2048, but its early closure was a 2012 presidential election campaign promise.
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