Sharjah24 - AFP: French President Emmanuel Macron is set to throw his support behind a massive nuclear power plant programme on Thursday despite concerns about the cost and complexity of building new reactors.
The head of state will go to a key turbine manufacturing site in eastern France on a pre-election visit dedicated to energy policy and the future of the country's atomic industry, which provides around 70 percent of French electricity.
Low-cost nuclear power has been a mainstay of the French economy since the 1970s, but recent attempts to build new-generation reactors to replace older models have become mired in cost over-runs and delays.
Macron is set to announce the construction of at least six new reactors by state-controlled energy giant EDF by 2050, with an option for another eight, a source close to the president told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"It (nuclear) is ecological, it enables us to produce carbon-free electricity, it helps give us energy independence, and it produces electricity that is very competitive," another presidential aide told reporters on Wednesday.
Whatever the 44-year-old head of state announces will depend on the outcome of presidential elections in April, however, with his rivals likely to review and change his proposals if they defeat him.
Most presidential candidates have vowed to continue investing in the industry with the exception of hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon and Greens contender Yannick Jadot who object to it on environmental grounds.
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