Macron Confirms: France To Build New Nuclear Reactors For The First Time In Decades

It looks like the love-fest for nuclear is officially back on, complimenting our bull case for uranium that we first touched upon almost a year ago in December 2020. 

With every passing day, our core thesis set here last December that uranium stocks are poised for a historic surge (see “Uranium Stocks Soar: Is This The Beginning Of The Next ESG Craze“), is getting closer to widespread adoption.

Following up on our previous reporting that France’s Emmanuel Macron was considering the use of nuclear in his country’s decarbonization plans, it was reported this week that France will in fact build new nuclear reactors, according to Reuters. 

The reactors will be built to help the country meet its global warming targets and keep prices under control, Macron said this week. 

He called the decision to continue building new reactors to keep prices down “reasonable”, five months before the country’s Presidential election. 

“We are going, for the first time in decades, to relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors in our country and continue to develop renewable energies,” Macron said. 

The move will “guarantee France’s energy independence, to guarantee our country’s electricity supply and achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality in 2050,” he continued. 

Reuters reports that the government should be set to announce construction of up to six new pressurized-water reactors within the next few weeks. 

Greenpeace (of course) criticized the announcement, calling it “disconnected from reality,” and citing delays and large costs with other nuclear projects.

However, nuclear simply makes sense as an option for dialing back much of the world’s carbon emissions, as we’ve noted in the past. 

Countries like the U.K. and Japan have also moved to adopt nuclear to help meet their climate change goals. China also has made plans for 150 new nuclear reactors, as we noted days ago.