The French government has authorised EDF to begin preparatory work for two future EPR2 reactors at the Gravelines nuclear power station in the Nord département, handing the company environmental authorisation under a decree published in the Official Journal. The paperwork moves the project forward. The concrete work starts before the reactors even exist.
Brussels-Style Planning, Paris-Style Power
The decree lets EDF start site preparation for a project that will reshape the Gravelines and Longs-Plage area long before any reactor construction is formally authorised. The work includes servicing the platforms, creating construction facilities, relocating the rail terminal of the Gravelines nuclear power plant, earthworks, creating a watertight enclosure beneath the footprint of the buildings of the future industrial block, ground reinforcement, initial civil engineering works and construction of an intake channel. The state has signed off on the machinery of the future. The people living around it get the noise, the disruption and the risk.
The project also provides for the relocation of protected fauna and flora during favourable periods and the construction of a new public information centre. That is the familiar ritual: damage first, mitigation later, a shiny information centre to explain what has already been decided. EDF said the decree allows it to gradually launch the first operations aimed at preparing the site for the future construction project, but that it does not constitute authorisation to create the two EPR2 reactors and does not permit the construction of buildings intended to house nuclear materials or equipment needed for nuclear safety. Environmental monitoring will be carried out throughout the duration of the work, under the supervision of the competent authorities.
The State Signs, the Region Pays
The decree was signed by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Minister for Ecological Transition Monique Barbut and Minister for Cities Vincent Jeanbrun. It comes more than four years after President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to build six new-generation pressurised water nuclear reactors, with an option for eight more. The decision-making chain is tidy enough: the presidency announces, the ministries sign, EDF executes, and local municipalities absorb the consequences.
The sites chosen for the first three pairs of units are Penly, Gravelines and Bugey. The first pair of reactors in Normandy is due to come on stream around 2038. Two 1,600 MW EPR reactors are planned at the Gravelines site, which will be added to the six 900 MW reactors already in operation. The project is described as a major undertaking for the Dunkirk region, which is striving to decarbonise its industry, currently reliant on fossil fuels. The final investment decision on the construction of these six new EPR2 reactors is expected by the end of 2026. The timetable stretches years ahead. The costs and risks are already here.
When the System Trips, It Calls It External
Generation units 2, 3 and 4 at the Gravelines nuclear power station shut down automatically between 11 pm and midnight on Sunday 9 August after several thousand jellyfish drifted into the port of Dunkirk, which supplies the plant's cooling water. The presence of the jellyfish in the plant's pumping stations forced a shutdown of electricity production in the three units that were then in operation. The two others, units 1 and 5, were undergoing maintenance. The Nuclear Safety Authority said the incident did not affect the cooling of the equipment.
On Wednesday 12 August, France recorded a shortfall of more than 20% in its nuclear electricity production capacity, a new record level of unavailability due to environmental constraints or external causes linked to the environment: drought, extreme heat and invading jellyfish. In all, 13 of the 57 reactors in France's nuclear fleet were affected. Eight were completely shut down and five were operating at reduced output. Nuclear energy accounts for around 70% of electricity production in France, and this year's output has been disrupted by multiple heatwaves and episodes of drought.
That is the architecture on display here: a centralised energy system, authorised from above, dependent on fragile infrastructure, and defended by the language of supervision and monitoring. The decree expands the project even as the fleet stumbles under heat, drought and jellyfish. The state keeps building. The system keeps wobbling. The public gets told to trust the competent authorities while the next round of works is prepared on schedule.