Two Swiss border regions on Tuesday urged France to shut down its Fessenheim nuclear plant, saying that it required intensive checks following Japan's crisis.

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‘Close French nuclear plant’ – Swiss cantons

Two Swiss border regions on Tuesday urged France to shut down its Fessenheim nuclear plant, saying that it required intensive checks following Japan's crisis.

Published: 23 March 2011 10:53 CET

'Close French nuclear plant' - Swiss cantons

nagadoudi/Régis (Flickr)

“The governments of cantons Basel Countryside and Basel City call on the French authorities and (French energy giant) EDF to switch off and immediately shut down the Fessenheim nuclear power plant until it undergoes an intensive check that takes into account the events in Japan,” they said in a joint statement.

The cantons said they had in past years raised questions about the risks surrounding the power plant located 35 kilometres (20 miles) north of Basel.

“The current, serious nuclear accident in Japan reinforces our opinion that the Fessenheim nuclear power plant poses a serious threat for the populations in the region,” they added.

Built in 1977-78, Fessenheim is France’s oldest nuclear plant that is still in operation, said the cantons, pointing out that the reactor also lies in a quake-prone area.

The cantons said they planned to lodge their request with Alsace’s regional government on April 1.

The crisis surrounding Japan’s Fukushima No.1 power plant, which was damaged during a powerful earthquake, has prompted several governments to monitor their nuclear reactors.

Following the crisis, the government suspended plans to replace its ageing nuclear power plants amid fears of a nuclear disaster.

France's EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

EDF hailed an “exceptional” year after its loss of €17.9billion in 2022.

Sales slipped 2.6 percent to €139.7billion , but the group managed to slice debt by €10billion euros to €54.4billion.

EDF said however that it had booked a €12.9 billion depreciation linked to difficulties at its Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Britain.

The charge includes €11.2 billion for Hinkley Point assets and €1.7billion at its British subsidiary, EDF Energy, the group explained.

EDF announced last month a fresh delay and additional costs for the giant project hit by repeated cost overruns.

“The year was marked by many events, in particular by the recovery of production and the company’s mobilisation around production recovery,” CEO Luc Remont told reporters.

EDF put its strong showing down to a strong operational performance, notably a significant increase in nuclear generation in France at a time of historically high prices.

That followed a drop in nuclear output in France in 2022. The group had to deal with stress corrosion problems at some reactors while also facing government orders to limit price rises.

The French reactors last year produced around 320.4 TWh, in the upper range of expectations.

Nuclear production had slid back in 2022 to 279 TWh, its lowest level in three decades, because of the corrosion problems and maintenance changes after
the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hinkley Point C is one of a small number of European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) worldwide, an EDF-led design that has been plagued by cost overruns
running into billions of euros and years of construction delays.

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