Total outages of nuclear reactors in France 2019-2022, by type
France registered 8,515 reactor-days of nuclear reactor unavailability in 2022, the longest period in the past few years. EDF, the French electric utility company that manages the country’s nuclear fleet, started the revision of its nuclear reactors in 2021, after the identification of stress corrosion cracking in the facilities. The planned or forced power cuts caused by maintenance operations affected all nuclear reactors in France.
A slow decline
Although France is among the global leaders in terms of operable nuclear power capacity, the country is facing a steep decline in domestic nuclear energy production due to the technical anomalies of its nuclear plants. Nuclear power production declined by over 20 percent between 2021 and 2022, with August being the month with the lowest production.
What does the future hold?
EDF is now inspecting the French nuclear fleet, planning to finish by 2025. Meanwhile, one nuclear reactor is under construction in the country and the government is planning at least six new generation reactors. The energy production outlook for France anticipated some 180 terawatt-hours of nuclear energy to be generated in 2050.
