A national debate will be launched later this year to discuss France's 'energy transition'. The results of the debate will be used in formulating a new energy policy bill in mid-2013. Meanwhile, the directors of the country's nuclear power plant fleet have voiced their support for their colleagues at Fessenheim, ordered to shut down in 2016.

France's oldest operating nuclear power plant will be forced to close in 2016, as president Francois Hollande sets the country on a path to reduce nuclear's share of generation from 75% to 50% by 2025.

EDF has awarded a contract to Alstom to retrofit the control systems of all of its 1300 MWe units in France. The contract is part of EDF's program to extend the operating lives of those units.

Unistar Nuclear Energy is ineligible to obtain a licence to construct a new nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs as it remains wholly-owned by a foreign corporation, a licensing board of the US nuclear regulator has ruled. Owner EDF of France has been given 60 days to show progress in its search for a US partner for the project.

France had an inventory of radioactive wastes totalling some 1.32 million cubic metres in 2010, according to the latest data released by the national radioactive waste management agency Andra. This is a 12.9% increase from the 1.15 million cubic metres in 2007.

China Nuclear Power Engineering Company (CNPEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with ONET Technologies of France in a number of fields related to nuclear power plant construction, operation and decommissioning.

Areva has raised its forecast for 2012 after reporting first-half earnings higher than previously expected, partly due to increased revenue in its nuclear business and the effects of restructuring its operations.

Unit 2 at EDF's Bugey nuclear power plant is capable of operating for a further ten years, France's nuclear regulator has concluded after the unit's third ten-year safety inspection. A final decision on its continued operation is expected before the end of the year.

French authorities have laid out the improvements they want to see from the country's nuclear operators to ensure safety in case of extreme natural disasters like those that led to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi.

Just over a month after naming his cabinet, France's prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has announced a reshuffle. The minister of environment, sustainable development and energy in now Delphine Batho.