French energy supplier EDF is to build France’s second nextgeneration EPR nuclear reactor at Penly, on the English Channel, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported on January 30. The announcement was made late on January 29 by President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also said that another French utility, GDF Suez, would have a minority stake in the project and would likely be chosen to build a third EPR reactor, at a site not yet determined. The pro-environment organisation Greenpeace condemned the decision to build another nuclear reactor in France, calling it “entirely illegitimate and dangerous.”

“This decision was taken without any public consultation, open bidding or analysis of energy needs. It has no justification other than to provide a massive contract to the state-owned nuclear industry, which has a poor safety and environmental record,” said Jan Beranek, Greenpeace International Energy Campaigner. The Penly EPR reactor will be the second of its type to be constructed in France, after the one currently being built in Flamanville, on the west coast. One EPR reactor is also under construction in Finland and two are slated to be built in China. Construction on the Penly reactor is expected to begin in 2011. EDF runs France’s 58 other nuclear reactors, from which the country draws about 80 percent of its electricity.